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NARRATIVE 

OP 

THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE 

mPBOTEMENTS 

BfFIGTBD IH 

His Majesty's Gaol at Ilchester^ 

9n t|e Cotttitfi of S^tmn^ttf 

BETWEEN JULY 1806, AND NOVEMBER 1821, 

tW^Bft THB 

* ^ 

GOVERNANCE. SUOGESnON, AND SDFBBINTENDANCK OF 

WM BRIDLE, Keeper: 

BEING THS 

FIRST PART OP HIS EXPOSITION OF, AND ANSWER TO, THE 
CHARGES LATELY BROUGHT AGAINST HIM BY 

HENRY HUNT, 

Jt PRISONER CONFINED IN THE SAID GAOL. 



iSat): 



PRINTBD BY WOOD, CUNNINGHAM, AND SMITH ; 

AMD TO BB HAD AT ALL THB RBiPBCt'ABLB LIBRABIBS IB BATH; 

BROWNB AND MANCHEB, AND BEES, BRISTOL; PENNY, SHERBORNE* 

POOLE, TAUNTON , POOLE, BRIDGEWATER; BOUCHBR, YEOVIL; 

VBNNT, FROME; BACKHOUSE, WELLS; BRODIB AND 

DOWDING, SALISBURY; TREWMAM8, BXETBR; 

FRAMPTON, DORCHESTER: 

AND AT MURRAY*!. ALBBMARLE-8TREET ; LONGMAN, HURST, 
RERS, AND CO. S, AND 6. AND J. ROBiNSON's, PATER* 
NOSTBR-ROW; LONDON. 

1822. 



•-i 



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DEDICATION. 



7b the British Public. 

IN dedicating the following pages to you^ 
my friends andfellow-countrymen^ I merely foU 
low the dictates which govern every man whose 
dernier resort is^ an appeal to the world* Tftat 
I have been infamously calumniated^ and most 
injuriously treated, it is my imperative duty to 
point out. The decision of any given body of 
men may be erroneous, but the decision of the 
British Public in toto has never yet been found 
at variance with true and sound justice. 

To that Public, therefore, I confidently make 
my appeal: on its decision I am ready to stand 
or fall. 

To the critical reader 1 have only one request 
to make — to pardon the literary errors he may 
find in this work ; as the chief business of my life 
has been to improve the morals not the language 
of men : my own, therefore, may have failed in cul- 
tivation, and may consequently be found imperfect. 



WILLIAM BRIDLE. 



Bath, February U/, 1822. 



\ 






PREFACE. 



• "v • . I 



S£LF-D£F£NCE is well ikno^a to: be 
tiw strongest propensity inherent to humait luitane ;; the 
meuiest worm (hat crawls wili torn when tiroddea or: 
the world, therefore^ cannot be sarprUed that Lslimld 
submit the following sheets to its perusal, . 

I shall not pa j so ill a compliment to tte tbiokiog 
and well-c9Bstituted part of my ooantrymen, th^t is^ the 
great body, to co&yey even by impUoatipn an idealbal 
they^haye pi^ostituted their time to the perns^rl of thje 
trash my chief foe has so long been vomiting out amongst 
those who are either the credulous dupes of his visionary 
politics, or are pamlyzed by fear of his vituperative 
power. The former class stand on the system adopted 
.'by their own reason; whether perverted or not let others 
judge : but the latter are pitiable indeed s the reptiles 
of a. North- American forest, it is true, do fascinate ; but 
Jhcgr.ifascMiatei to destroy, 
-'' That a man, whose vile passions are as notorious as 
his career has been erratic, should attack whatever might 
be good or orderly, cannot b$ a matter of much wonder : 
but it is that he should have succeeded in his object, 
that I complaid, << Oh ! that my enemy would write 
/a book!" was the exclamation of a man of yore. ^^^ 



PREFACE. 

an anvarnisbed, unlettered person, like myself, should 
make the attempt, is the best proof I can give the world 
of the foct, that 1 have been treated unjustly. . 

Since the following pages were written, it came to 
my knowledge that t)ie Cqmmisaipoers, lately appointed 
under the Great Seal, had made their Report. Deeply 
attacked as my character has been, I had been most 
anxiously looking forward to the event ; as on their fiat 
I had reposed. I understood that a copy of it had been 
forwarded to the Quarter Sessions held at Wells on the 
JMItb ulft.') and I immtdiately posted thitheryi not doubt- 
ing but titti I fthould'be ppcqnptjy rappifed.^b^QBft; 
But fiointfdT my good friends'^of-ttltelCdfnmiJ^teeiweue 
ihettf and /was refuted !'^ I ha^reb^enarraigpedi triedi 
and punished by «'8elf-<foii6CitJated Coiirt^ notwllbsteiid^ 
iiig a fiigber Cotirt was appointed to itivesilgdiel my 
eoiidiict. ' That higher GiMirl has set, aiRepocifcoiBf.it 
Km c«»iti6 (Mhy* mAyti I am Mfosed tlic kpoirkdigei^ 
Wlm^ti/at(Ete]^(^'codt^ns: The world, bpwew^will 



•■ :Tbe ChaktiiaD of ^beSeftsloAs (W0i« Diehwsp*, .ei^O 
pleased to ioform me (at^ttie lime 1 was refused a eopy of the Report, 
or even the sig^hf thereof,) that the Commissioners bad {^iven meii 
most exceUent clJaracter' fi;>'iV^ the iinie iff and ^ritt^ tbie tjpbtos 

<bv^r;'tfDt:iifhat!|irt»%jeittedl!bat character IW>in'bH <K^ti«cfed I 
«^«ld oot learir^ perhap9tl)e'GaoI was not found in such hi^ order 
and discipline from that period ; and should, that happen to be the 
cause, I feel it a duty I owe myself And tb« world '«i^eiih(^tl» 'to 
%irak<9 some «&plbiMtion, and )o sbvw andtber, feffiveof llle act 
pT the Committee : Sir John Palmar Acland was accused of dis- 
turbing the.peace of the county, in supporting Sir f. icthbridge 
at the Somcrtet Election, and Mier^ibre bad iBciii^*d*tb«*di*|>toa. 
siire 6f some '«f tbesb gtontiemoQ | Wbte t|i« t^ifbas h^^ beoMHe 
«o alarming in the Gaol, the worthy Bavonettooka very acti!»e part 
in recomm^ndibg the Holise of Recovery, the attendance of" Dr. 
Wo6dfora, &d, Whteh ^tus by' many ebnsldered as *<i unneotssaljr 



PAEFACS. 



lee^bati let its purport Jt^ vrh^t itiipa^jTy Ucannai cpincid^ 
with the decision of the Commiii^e of CouDtv Magi9* 
trates* If it rfirf, I have reason io k^iow, bo.^ trUim- 



expense* . Whether these are the causes or not, I will not pretend 
to say, but, strange and wonderful as it ipay appear, the C*om* 
mittee directed Mr. Broderip to infurm me, it was their wish that 
my correspondence with Sir John Palmer Actand should be at aa 
endll This was stated to oie by that g;eBtleman, . observing, the 
Magistrates wonid be jealous and displeased if 1 did not conform 
to their wishes; adding, '*I told them you were directed t>y all 
Magistrates and Sheriffs, from the day of your appotutmenr, to 
apply to Sir John for advice if any case of difficulty preseptad 
Itself in yoqr service, and that was admitted with an observation 
that Sir John was no longer Chairman of the Sessions.*' It waj 
known to these g^entlemen that Sir. John Palmer Aclaml'waam 
great and good friend of mine, and I thought it was cruel to b^ 
thus deprived of the valuable advice 1 had been accustomed to re- 
ceive at his hands: I was, however, their servant, and bound to obey. 
Unfortunately, however, lor me, my duties. at this lime were nneb 
extended, and my occasional absence from the Gaol nracb inpreaa«4 
(in the year 1820 my duty took me from the Gaul 112 days); this 
absence was taicen advantage of by iny officers, and partieufarly 
the principal officer. Being deprived of the .assisiance 6f Sir Joba 
Palmer Acland, I pointed these things out to the Committee, and 
in my letter, dated March 1st, 1820, (a d<^' of their meeting at the 
Gaol, when I was obliged to be absent,) I requested tlieir protec* 
tiofli and support from this abuse,, by thbir. entering an order ia 
their Journal that the Taskmaster should not leave the Gaol 
during the hours of labour, nor the turnkeys during the time the 
Gaol was unlocked. This protection not being then afforded me, 
I applied personally to the Committee at the Gaol, and Mr. Good* 
Foan, the CHAIRMAN, thanked me for the suggestion, observing it 
should be ootioed in the Rules tliey were then preparing. I again 
applied for an Immediate order to be made in the Journal, and waa 
agaio refused.. Ill the same letter I applied for certain bells to be 
put ti^ in. the Gaol, to enable me in the night-time to know if all 
wierAnrell : tlus was. also oegleoted. But many months after this the 
Prisoner Hunt made » similar application aod obtained an order .for 
bells to be put op in his waid, that hb may have the power ot call- 
ing HIS SERVANTS, In the execution of this order I re(niiided theae 



PRfiFACB. 

phantly it trould have been handed orer to me ; bnt as 
it 1*8, it is refused. The inference is obyious. 

One other act of injustice I cannot pass oyer. The 
Commissioners were instructed not onlj to inrestigateiay 
conduct, but to inreBiigaie ^Iso the local dUadoatUages 
of the Gaol. This has been done ai my expense; and 
I ask if it be fair ? Surely the latter investigation was 
a pablic matter ; why should I, therefore, suffer loss by 
it ? My witnesses I had brought, some of them from a 
great distance : they were all residing at llchester at my 
own . expense ; yet tlieir examinations were delayed 
daily, because the Gaol was to be investigated also ; and 
thus were my expenses increased tenfold. I trust the 
gentlemen who composed the Commisssion wfll see this 
circumstance in its honest light, and rescue roe from a 
pecuniary loss so ruinous. It was but a little I had 
scraped together in the course of fourteen years' arduous 
service, and of that little 1 am deprived — deprived too 
principally through the means of men who ought to 
haw protected me. 

I shall not charge the Magistrates of the county of 
Somerset as a body, however, with a breach of duty, or 
of protection towards me. No! for my heart glows 



gentlemen of my application for bells: it was again omitted! 
Subaeqaently I again repeated my applioation to one of my Tiutiog 
Magistrates, when tbey were at length ordered to be pot op. 

Tbas was I deprived, by an official order of tbe Gaol Com- 
mittee, of tbe able advice and experience of Sir J. P. Adand in 
every trying and difficnlt situation; and instead of the connsel and 
aasisiance of that Committee in lieu thereof, I could not even ob- 
tuD the necessary interference and protection of those gentlemen 
to enforce regularity and good order in the Gaol during my ab- 
aenoo on duty. 



PRSPACfi. 

wliib^ my pen rocords^ (he feet, that the bjary done mi 
lias beett efiected by six Justices alone. They wdl 
know that if 1 had appealed against their decbioii io 
the great body, it would have been sei aside: nnfor* 
tanately for myself, I knew it too late. The world will 
perhaps scarcely credit this statement, bot its truth is 
open to inrestigation. When the Committee cmiie to 
their decision, seven of their body only were present^ 
and/otfr* who mrere not of their body ; and by six of 
these was an old, faithful, and tried officer eaurteoml^ 
dismissed from that situation they themselTes had m 
frequently testified could not have been better filled^ 
Bat 1 will not aotioipato for my readers, the foUowiog 
pages win sufficiently speak to that fact. 

Petitions to the House of Commons, relatire to 
grievances of any kind, carry with them, in public opi* 
nion, great weight ; and it is well that they sbouM do 
so : and their doing so is the best proof that two thirds 
•f the community think too leverantly of the constituted 
authority of the realm, to suppose that there are nea 
who will dare to make false lUatements to (hat august 
body.t Bot although my dire enemy^ and the dire 
enemy of all that is either sacred in society or holy io 



* Of whom one (s veiy particular friend of those decidedly 
hostile to my interest) bad qualified bot a few days ; in fact, after 
the investigation bad closed !!! and althongh a resident of not more 
than 6 miles from the Gaol, I had never before (to my knowledge) 
seen or heard of, and whose first magisterial act was to sit with aa 
assembly about to decide on an ea^ftarte case against me« 

t The Petition of Charles Hill, presented by the Hon. Grey 
Bennbt to the Hooae of Commons in June, 18i6, having caused 
an invesigation at the time, and the m<tre of the charges con- 
tained In said petitiop Wing ktem ckarijf mid saiis/adinHf frostd 



PRSFACB. 



fdigioii) bas caused i^etiiiofis to be forwasded. to the 
Hcmsiey \a9 if from ag^grieved persons, jet let tl^ jml>lic 
(ipi^ion p^ii9e |vr)t^ respect to their tr«th«* la the 



ff 

to hmfe been Miterly foise, tbe Hon« Grey Bonnet sent the followin|^ 
tetter to Wm. Dickinson, esq; M.P. acknowledgbg the recei|>t of 
th&iluoiimeQti itpQB the Bdbjeot: 

. Dear Sir, 

I shewed yoar letter, and the accompanyini^ 

^p)»rt, to M». Horner only} ^ir S. Ronnllf not being in th« Hoot^ 

yesterday. He exfuretsed himself perfectly satii^ed. I then todc 

opcasion to state to the Hogse that I had received a communica- 

iion from you, relative to the petition 1 had presented from Itches^ 

tofCkMl,whiobGMniniiMteatiaii hndaatMed om tbaitbe.PietltiiiiMar 

was in no way warranted in* tha^^ statement he ^ad mtdt , and tiial 

hia complaint was untrae« . I fortber added, ^hat I embrace^ witA 

plieasare an opportunity of dedtaring that, from aff I had ever beard, 

th«Gaol atlli;h0st4ir>waft dteof^ha best «e9nhit6d iftth^kiiigdeia^ 

Mid ili^e ' magistracy wiiojci^trpulad ita maaagemwil among ti^^ 

most meritorions« Besides this, J added, that I was instructed to 

state that no letter from any diebtorwsiii ever opened by the Gaoler* 

and that I believed tAiere ' wa(a nd iaataiioa lo /be f^owl when tlw 

pr«9ticw bad take* pfaccu .I^bope, joa hiU .be aatis^ed with tbis^ 

fnd I did itthe more readily because I bad been made the instrn* 

ment (roost unintentionally on my part) of wounding tbe feelings 

df an innoci»iit mad, and because 1 am fulty aware bow much tb« 

•nuaex^f nffseasary-fcfor^ ia injuc^d by the intj:oiliioti(in of on* 

founded allegations. 

> ^ - > Believe me, 

Dbar Sir, 

Yooratraly, 

WkUehaU, June SOth. H. GREY BENNfiT. 

• In the course of my public duty one other striking, inptano^ 
df imposition^ on the Honae of Ckimmoas, by means of a petition, 
came to my knowledge rand ^s it is. a |mrallel C9se to tbe one I 
liavci mentioned, I shall here relate it. 

In December, 1812, Sir F. Burdetl presented a petition to tbe 
house of Commons, said to be' the Petition of the friends and reia* 
tives of Hipwo6d, Er^ey, Pitt, Milllkin, Taylor, and Elisabeth 
Lovell, confined in Itebester Gabl for « a sort of jigt in tbo city of 



pkinfiam 



Attend ihg one of ihc^ ][>^eiA^ that of mtlium Chud* 



om. 



I • • • 

ath, wfieii a Yew of the windows of the Towhtiall wefe brdken,'' 
^mplhuting of o#ii6lti^i$/bar^blp8, priKkfiiilift,^4oe«iiiider ufalek 
th0ya^<^diiii ^b9 p^i^^ij-aoK ';A| Uif^uidUniei tii^Hoo* Burt 
nrodi4€ed a apnall loaf of bad or^ad, weighing about seten oanpes, 
which he stated was the sole allowance for ieabh prisoner It thb 
Oaol for oiM'4«yi4Mld'theban&i(fi«avtty 6aHt1t«|io* tbe.fl«^ 

i[ofi8f«. ^Ttiip44«>Ptf^^).i<^<^'9f^vJ9M^ Bath.4qr tl|^ l^Sf^ 
and it is a fact worthy of observation, that all the loaves ever used 
in the. Gaol durin|p my ^vernanoe, were of 'standard wheaiai/y 
wel^liittgtbreepoiiildveiohni - ! 

• . I ; * nukjwf^i tip 'A^fum^tMs^ by ^tbp mid la ie petitJQi|;ieir|u j 

.WE, whose names are berenn^to snbsoribed, .being prisoners 
^nfineti in the above Gaol for'riotodsly assembliJig' in Bath, on 
fbe-BUt day drObt«lii6r Inst^ do aareby d^lavef-UHit siiioeanrMifi 
finement in this Gaol we ^ffa, bae|^ well treated by tbe-K^per ojf 
tbt said 9aol^ and ;by bfs tnrnl&eyt; that onr. friends have been 
at all times permitted to visit ns ih the said Gaol at' the rdgirlated 
f^tmH; IhatmoaiBy^imnrkLttpta^^'mef^t, t^iV^ee,i<ibac0o;au4^ 
9lher;tbiM>,w)iiplL.bjB^,f been ffuit.to Ds.by.oQr.lri«i^(fs» have bec^^ 
regularly given to and distcibnted amongst us, according to the 
diriections of the person sending the iama; that we'have aot itaada 
any tibwfiti^t «4 any p^f^ wftatsaevef . of < any:ili4iiikta»nt «to 
l*Mai^flW^d» aiapa^MPr epffi^^tmP^^ptfkf^Y^^wp bail any xania ^ 
do so, as we have before declared to the several visiting Magii* 
trates who have vfsited as sidoe OEfr confinement, and to l^iUlam 
Dickinson, esq; the representative in Parlia'ment for the oonnty of 
Som^rffl:. wfiA wet ^ ftytbfr declare that we do not know of any 
Petition naving been presenteil to the Hon. the House of Com- 
HMUS by any person or persons on our behalf, complaining of our 
treatment in the said Gaol, nor did we ever authorise any person 
or persons to present any such Petition : and we severally declare 
that we are not freemen of the citjr of Balb^ ^' s ' * \ 

(Signed) WILLIAM ERREY, PHIUP MILLIKIN, 

WILLIAM TAYLOR, The Mark X of 

CHARLES PITT, MARY LOVETT.t 
JOHN HIPWOOD, 

WitneUf E. Broderip* 

t CaUed in tbe Fekitkn EUsabeth LoreU. 



kj^f and I Mwrepeat mjr appeal (o tlie Hoose .of Cooa-^ 
flUons to cite me to llieir 0ar to prove the facts. Let npt, 
the Members of that Honourable House permit the 
•niTereoce that is due to their august body to be thus 
trampled down, and bemired by the inroad of impositjoa 
and falsehood. The right of petitioning that House for 
jredress of grievances is one of the most sacred privileges 
«f an Englishman ; but to foist falsehood thus upo9 it# 
is the certain vaj to destroy the power and effiM:t of thai 
right altogether. 

I now commit a plain unvarnished .statement of what 
I have done, in my capacity as a public officer, to the 
world: I commit it fearlessly. Truth needs no orna- 
ment : and I have only to entreat the candid reader, 
patiently to consider, and to ask himself, whether I have 
or hate not been treated unjustly. 
[ An analyzation of each charge that has been brought 
•gainst me I shall very shortly publish, together ;with 
a dissection of the witnesses bionght to substantiate tbem,* 
and my own defence. I feel the conscientious convic- 
lioa of having faithfully, and properly perfiarmed. my 
*daty> tad I hate no fear of carrying that convictioii 
'into ev^ry honest bosom ip the kingdom^ 

WmiAU BRIDLE. , 

hi .t _ , I. : • . . < . ' I.' 1! 



.« • 



Bath, Fdnnarjf Qih, 1822. 




l^si^^^^ 



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Ea^lanation of Plate, describing the Gaol as it was in 1808. 



1. Passage, three feet and a half wide, leadin g to the Gaol. 

3. Gaoler's Gardens, Walks, and Shrabberies. 

* ID S. A ditch containing stagnant water, sometimes as deep as 10 feet. 

4. Hog<«ties. 

5. Shras for carriages. 

6. The Engioe-House, for cooveying river-water to the prisoners, 

nsnally stood here. 

7. Part of Gaoler's Garden. 

* in 7. Private Gate of entrance. This was occupied by the lower 

debtors six days after my induction. 

8. Stable for horses. 
I>9. Cow-honae. 

10. Straw-room. 

11. Debtors' Apartments. 
13. Debtors' Conrt. 

* in 12. This had also been a ditch containing stagnant water. 
IS. Turnkey's Lodge. 

14 Carpenters' Shop and Conversation-Room. 

15. A Pomp for all the Gaol usually stood here, there being no other 

water fit for drioking in the Gaol. 

16. Time-men's Kitchen. 

17. Time-men's Conrt. 

18. Common Entrances for Water to the Debtor's Ward, &c. 

* in 18. Wall, erected as a temporary division, and to interrupt so 

improper a thoroughfare. 

19. Time-men's Arcade. 

20. Intended for Time-men's Day-room« but used as Keeper's Cellar. 

* in 20. Door pf conmmunication made by Keeper from his Scullery. 

21. Conrt for all male Prisoners for trial, for Convicts, Vagrants^ 
Deserters, &c. 

22. Tlieir Arcades with a Door leadini; info the Female Ward. 

25. Tlieir Kitchen, looking into the Infirmary Conrt. 
24. The Infirmary Conrt. 

26. The Infirmary Arcades, very offensive from the smells of the privies 

27. Infirmary Stair-door. 

28. Chapel-door, receiving all the eflduvia and contagion of the rooms 

above and the arcade below. 

29. Chapel, undivided, one common room or space. 

30. Court-yard for females of all descriptions. 

31. Room for Female Turnkey. 

32. Common Entrance to Female Ward. 

33. Entrance Lodge, being the residence of the principal Turnkey. 

34. Warm and cold Baths, used by the Keeper as a Laundry. 

35. Keeper's House. 



I y I * • i . 



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Explanation of Plate, desertbing the Gaol as U was in 

November, 1821. 



1. Honsefor containine the Gaol caravans. 
S. Stable. 

3. Entrance-Lodge. 

4. Prisoners' Visiting-room. 

5. Manufactory. 

6. Matron's Iiodge. 

^. Female Felons' Day-room. 

8.TbeirConrt-Tard. 

9. Female Convicts' Day-room. 

10. Their Coar^yard. 

11. Oocasionallv the Female Debtors* or Infirmary Ward. 

12. Twelve Refractory Wards. 

13. Male Infirmarv 

14. Lanndry and Bakehoose. 

15. Boys' Ward. 

16. Lower Debtors' Ward. 

17. Upper Debtors' Ward. 

18. Time-men's Ward. 

19. Misdemeanonr Ward. 

20. Felons' Ward. 

21. Convict Ward. 

22. Chapel. 

23. Keeper's House. 



>l ' ti 



CHAPTER I. 



•^iimtm 



i ill li'i I ' .♦ ".it 

: > 



r • 



iSf/afo o/*/Ae Gdolat the Period of my aUuniing the Govemdnce 
thereof^Particulars of nty Appointmenif Sft. , , 



• • <  . • » « 



> < 



. ' H. •. . M' ti // '• ? 

>. • •• ' - . - . I 

r 



EaRIT in th6 spring of ihe fetit lS08 ail 
adrertisement appeared in the daily papers for a Keepei! 
of the Gaol, and Governor of the Hoase of Cortectionl 
at Ilchester* At this time t \ras chief 'mate of ihe con- 
vict-ship Retributioh, oh the River Thames : andcforf- 
sidering the nature and advantages of the situation thus 
advertised to be open, 1 determined to bedome a candi- 
date for it, and applied instantly to the Su^efmtendaiit 
of the Hulks, and other gentlemen connected with the 
observance of prison discipline, for su6n testimonials ab 
t&ey might conceive the manner in which I had futfilled 
Xny obligations, and performed my duty, might warrant 
them to give me. 

On the receipt of those testimonials, I forwarded them 
to a friend at Shepton- Mallet, and opeiicd a correspond- 
ence with the Urider-Shdriflf of the? tounty, stating my 



CHAPTER I. 

desire to be appointed to the situation, and the grounds 
on which I conceived myself qualified to fill it. 

On the day of election I happened not to be present, 
but the nature and power of ray recommendations may 
be conceived when I add, that although there were 
twenty-seven candidates, many of whom were well known 
and respected in the county, yet immediately my tes- 
timoniab were taken into consideration by the Sheriff 
and Grand Jury, my appointment was proposed and 
carried unanimously. 

This statement is sufficient to prove the opinion 
fcMTined of my zeal and ability at that time: and it is 
further strengthened by the fact, that I was unknown to 
the whole of the Magistrates present save two, and, more- 
over, was but twenty -six years of age. Attacked, how- 
ever, and calumniated as I have lately been, it cannot 
be egotism in me to add^ that the late Aaron Graham, 
teq; the active and efficient Bow-street Magistrate, who 
was, moreover, the then Inspector of Hulks and Felon 
(Gaols, offere(!| me the sole command of a conviot-ship 
if I would remain in ray original employ. I declined 
doing so, however, from the natural wish to settle in my 
native county ; and on the 19th day of July was in- 
ducted to the Governorship of the House of Correc- 
tion, and Keepership of his Majesty^s County Gaol at 
Ivelchester, with a salary of jg400 per annum. 

On ray taking charge, I found the population to conr 
sist of 62 prisoners of all classes, and the Gaol divided 
into five wards only, as may be seen by the annexed 
plan, viz. one for all classes of male debtors, whose 
limits extended to the very entrance-door of the Goal ; 
one for all male prisoners under sentence less than trans- 
portation ; one for all male prisoners for trial, from the 



CHAFISR I. 

highway-^robber down to the simi^ country boy for 
bastardy or assault ; one for all* female prisoueiB, whe- 
ther felons or debtors ; and one for infirmary purpose^ 
The whole of the remaining site within the walls waa 
occupied as a garden, piggery^ stablesi and oow-hoosc^ 
for the use of the Governor. 

Here then^ f«oin a mere want of edifice^ was 119 
power of classification ; from the absence of rf^latioa 
and labour, no power of preventing the prison^ fion^ 
spending their time as idly and as dissolutely as thej^ 
pleased : and as the only place used as a risitipg-ioom 
was appropriated to the debtors, all other visitanla to thf 
prisoners were permitted to enter their respectiTC waid% 
and take with them whatsoever they pleased. The con^ 
sequence was, that the prison was either a scene of 
drunken frenzy- or gambling association : and as no relir 
gious books were ever distributed amoi^ttbem^ nq mode 
of restricting or adding to their personal comforts in caap 
of Wilful error, nor any other vegulation by which thei^r 
lives migiit be amended, or their wicked propensiti^ 
repressed^ the daily occurrences of the ifiaol were all that 
was debauched, profligate, and dreadful. 

But the xnl.eraal mis-manageoEiient of the Prison was 
not its only defect. There was an internal miseonstroc* 
iioB : the very chapel was «o perfectly undivided, that 
pijfioners sat down in mass ; and the Hpuse of G09, 
with such a congregation, became a house of profligacy. 
Locking the Gaol up at night, and unlocking it in the 



* The widow and one of the daughters of an officer lately 
governing the Island of St. Kitts, on being anfortanateljr com- 
mitted to gaol for debt, were absolatelj obliged to be placed in 
the same ward witfi females of the most abandoned descriptioo! 



CHAPTER I. 

morniog, formed the principal duty. From the want 
of employment, therefore, arose a proportionate addition 
of disoirder and mischieF: There was no laundry, con- 
Isequently no regular supplies of clean linen ; the bed- 
ding and linen, indeed, of the whole Gaol was washed 
by one woman, and that too in the kitchen, and by the 
*fire of the ward' in which she lived. There was but one 
^ump for all the prisoners; the Gaol, therefore, was 
tone common ward . The court-yards were neither stoned , 
paved, nor gravelled, and the only chance of walking 
with dry feet was, by stepping from one loose flat stone 
to another, placed for the purpose. There were neither 
fire nor side arms, for the use of the officers in case of 
mutiny, in 'the whole Gaol. The principal turnkey's 
lodge waft entirely open and unprotected : and the pri- 
soners bad only to wtll their escape to effect it, for there 
were no means of prevention. Such was the state of 
Ilchester Gaol, as to its localities and the manner of its 
government, when I took charge thereof in July, 1808. 
What it has become since, is the duty of this work to 
point out; but 1 cannot go into it without premising, 
that however Herculean the task 1 had to perform, the 
Augaean Stable was cleansed ; and, by the protection 
and noble co-operation of Sir John Palmer Acland, the 
Gaol at Ilchester, and I feel proud in asserting it~, has 
become one of the first, if not the first gaol, in the 
^hole woild. 



CHAPTER II. 



Commencement of Improvements by the Introduction of 

Prison Labour* . 



aS my former experienee in the manage* 
ment of prisoQcrs had sufficiently convinced me thiat' 
without classification and labour, nothing conld effec- 
tually be done V in the regulation of a gaol, my great 
object was, under the protection and approbation of the 
Magistrates, to introduce them* Indeed, the introduc-' 
tion of one was the introduction of both, for it was (Hily 
by labour that classification could be produced. 

My first step on assuming the command was to make 
piyself acquainted with the wants and difficulties of the pri- 
soners ; and 1 may as well remark here, that in pursuing 
this inquiry, 1 found Charles Hill, one of the present 
inmates of the Gaol, and of whom I shall have often to 
speak, confined in the infirmary ward as refractory and 
disobedient. The man, however, having committed his 
ofience under a former goyemor, and wishitig to conci? 



CHAPTBR II. 

« 

liate Ihe minds of all those under my charge as much 
possible, I interfered with the Magistrates shortly after^ 
and procured his pardon. Notwithstanding this lenity, 
howeyeri I find, on reference to my dccurrence-booky 
that he was the yery first person who thought proper to 
break through the rules and regulations I had adopted 
for the better management of the Gaol, and to oppose 
me in the improvements I was b^inning to effect. 

Haying provided for the wants of the prisoners as 
much as then lay in my power, I next turned my at(eD« 
tion to increase the security of the Gaol, and caused a 
^ gate to be immediately erected on the inside of the prin- 
cipal turnkey's lodge, the better to protect that officer 
from any attack that might be made from within. This 
being effected, I began to employ the prisoners in useful 
labour : some in sinking a pit to procure gravel within 
the Gaol, to give a new and clean face to the areas of 
the difibiient waids.; others in removing a coat of green 
ipos^ from, the walls of the buildings in order- to .give it 
(what it had not lieibre) Ihe appearance of bQiii^ occu- 
pied; and thus readily found empfoymeat forallwha 
weie able to work, and effectually checked the stream of 
vice and depravity that had hitherto unceasingly rushed oa* 

In the course of a very few days, carpenters, and 
masons wereemployed, by direction of the Magistnrfes., 
to assist the prisoners in the extension of the ctassifica- 
tive capability of tihe Gaol ; and as this measure wat. 
one that required acting on as soon as circumstanoea 
permitted, it • was thought proper first to commences 
irith the debtors. Hitherto (as has been stated in ib» 
^rst chapter^, this dass of prispaers were oo-mipgled, 
wd .thfsir limits extended t^ the entrance-door of tbe« 
Gaol- It was judged r|ght however to^Wd^.tbuir wmd 



tHApnn th 

inta two blasted^ namely, AM^ iHoie wtro wppwtod 
ChMMCflves, or the upper debtors m ibej are wvr caMeift$ 
and second, those who receired ihecoHnty alloWaaeO; 
and to confine them witlrin a lum seope of Hbertf witt^ 
out allowing them to come out of their dwn warM dbwa 
to the efitrance*ddor as lleretofore. This improvetnent 
eitoimeneed on the sixth day of my r^iden6e, qfnd it 
WW with considerable difficotty Effected; for whibt Ah 
carpenteiTB were at their meats, the debtors assemMed in 
a- body vound a door newly eredfed, and broke the lock 
in pieces. On the ciroamstance bein^ stated to rae by 
tbeforeman, I sent a turnkey to ordtv theM intodte day* 
room, where I intended to e^iamine ubem', and remoo^ 
stmte on the impropriety of their conduct ; tbey reliised 
however to obey the ordei, and I immediately went int» 
the yard where they were all assembled : I demanded 
the name of the perMNi who* bad brcriken the look ; 1 told 
them I considered' the safety of the prisoners under dy 
diarge endangered by th6ir conduct, aiid unless thcff 
gav^ me up the perpetrating, I wouhl declare them ttf 
be in a state of mutiny, add immediately call in the 
civil power. As howeVer they became clamorons antf 
refused to do so, I pulled out my watch, andassnrHii 
them, if they did not retire t6 their room in five nunuteiiry 
I would caH in an efleotive :power to oblige them to dO 
to. They thought ^proper to obey, and within the Tpt^ 
rtod'rilotted they had all retired, and Adr door vttd 
locUed. lam free to^say, that had 1 not been thu^ 
prompt and deterntilned^' the whole estabtisfament would 
have been in a slate of nmtiny within ten minutes; audi 
1' relate the circttmstaBce merely to shew the difficult' 
ties I bad to contend with in dassifying even the 
debtors; who, it is to be supposed^ should 4)0 the «iOit< 

T 



CHAPTBR II. 

Mrily governed and orderly set of men within ibe waHs 
cff a gaol. The matter, however, was immedialelj 
investigated by the visiting Magistrates, the offend- 
er discovered, and punished by confinement in the 
lefiactory ward. 

The labour of the prisoners was now becoming ge- 
neral and nnintermitted ; the exterior of the walls of the 
PriwHi were razed to the ground for the purpose of com* 
mencing great and necessary improvements ; welb 
were sunk and pumps fixed in all the respective wards; 
the yards were all pitched and paved ; and from the in- 
stant Sir J. P. Acland nobly determined to take deep 
interest in the progress of meliorating the state of the 
Gaol, every thing became prc^essive, every assistance 
was afforded me, and every protection and encourage- 
ment held out. 

The domestic management of the Prison was rapidly 
placed on a new scale also. Constables and cooks were 
appointed to the respective wards, selected from amongst 
the most orderly and best disposed. Regulations were 
made for the. [Nrisoners to be supplied with necessaries 
firom the shops in the town, and for the admission of 
batchers and others with articles for sale. Clean linen 
l^egan to be regularly supplied, as far as the limited 
means of the Gaol then permitted, and every thing 
quickly assumed a cheerful, busy, and clean aspect* 
Instead of the sqaallid misery, idle inanity, and frena»ed 
drunkenness and licentiousness, that had hitherto pre- 
vailed, regularity, discipline, and orderly labour took 
place ; and in the course of six months the whole face 
of the Gaol was entirely and completely changed. To 
add to the personal comforts of the prisoners, to check, 
the progress of imrooiality by the introduction of la- 
bour, 



CHAPTER ^ti: 

bour^ and to cleanse and extend (Tie Gaol, was not all' 
lioweVei* that was effected witiiin that period t a tdfii 
bad been* given to-the ideas of the prisoners ; tbeir'lei- 
sare to pursue vicious inclinations had been broken iti 
ii|)oh; and on the S5th day of Dec)ember, 1808, Sibies 
amtf Testaments' had been procured'on my own appUca-' 
tlofi fjo the Britbfc and Foreign teble Society, and were' 
by myself distributed amongst therti. * • . i • . : . 

* As soon as the classification of the debtors, anid'sun* 

• • • . « 

diV other works of mlnbt'importance,' had been effected^' 
award, Co be called the boy's ward, w^s cominenced. 
!](tiis was highly tiei:€»sary, as faithertb tlVertJ hadf4)6eA' 
no p6wer of sepaititihg boys from men ; and in t6e bourse; 
of a few months' it was completed. 'As' tli^ huniber df 
wards began rapidly to increase, a new line o^ drains* 
became essential ; tlii^ also was tmdertal^eh, aiidlii (lefi- 
mce of the difficulty of eicavatiott^ quickly 'effeieied.'' 
Oil reference lo my papers on this head,' 1 'disco veVtn At 
a trench of ITOTeet in length, 10* feet decJp, ani 4|Yect' 
wide at the bottbfn; was dug, the * bottom J)afed,- tHc 
sides built up, a brick arch turhed'over, th'^Youncfation 
of two walls secured, the foundatfon of it wall for the 
fbmate infirmary laid^' and the'vvhcJie drain entirety^ 
finished, lit severiteeri days by prison labour, at the merie^ 
expense of j^ : 1 1 10 16 |he coiirify ! ' ' ' 

' Let it be understood that the whole of the riibbisb' 
was cleared away, and the' drain* perfectly and entirety 

a t 

finisbed, within seventeen days, and I think it will ap-' 
pear that the result of the introdu<;tion of prison labour 
was beneficial in ihore ways than one — it was an immense 
saving to the county. As I find myself getting into 
datd^ I may as well prove (tie above assertion by the 



CHAPTBR II. 

mention of two or three additional fads ; feterring for 
a fatare part of this work a minote description of the 
most perfect buildings e?er accomplished by prison 
labonr abne. 

Oyter Boundary Wall of the GaoL—Uxpeoae of. 
^liggingand laying the foundation of the above wall^. 
66feetinlengtb,6|feetwide, j64:1:8. Tode« 
the difficulty that attended this work is almost, 
impossil^Is : from about the middle to the south end the 
foundation was laid within the river ; at the extremity^^, 
ten feci out into the stream. Notwithstanding, a dam, 
was made with materials found upon the spot without 
timberi the ground excavated, the foundation laid, 
brought to a level with the river, and completed in eighi . 
daysyhj prison labour j and at the expense of j£4 : 1 : S It 

ISi^pense in excavating and laying the foundation of 
a wall through the felons* yard, being 51 feet in lengthy 
6| f<^ deep, and S feet 4 inches wide, including wheel* 
iog out the earth, conveying in the stones required^ 
levelling, and entirely completing, 4^1 : S : 0!! 

These are facts that require no comment from me ; 
but, under existing circumstances, I am bound in iself- 
vindication to add, that by my suggestion a system of 
prison labour was introduced, and in the course of ons^^ 
year and three months, the above is ^ specimen of whM 
could be thereby done. To touch on the effect pro- 
duced. by such labour, in the light of mere economy, 
is unnecessary, seeing that it is self-evident. But it inay 
be' profitable to dwell on the effect produced on the 
unhappy prisoners themselves. They were now con- 
stantly employed : instead of being left to brood over 
the extent of their crimes, to iipagine new, or to plunge 



CHAPTER IL 

into every excess their means could afford, thej were 
kept alert; alertness produced cheerfulness; exercise, 
health ; their labour, an addition to their means ; strict 
discipline, cleanliness ; and instead of diverging into 
additional crime, Aey were learning the sweets pro- 
duced by honest labour, and shame at the former vicious- 
ness of their lives. 



jd 






CHAPTER III. 



Coniinuatiim €f ImpravementB by ike Iniroduetian ^f 

Prison Labowr. 



A^ the instant I assumed the command of 
this Establishment, and had discovered the outline of 
the immense alterations it became imperative to effect, I 
suggested io the Magistrates th^ propriety of my keep- 
ing a daily journal or occurrence^book, in which to note 
every thing that might inform them of the state of pro- 
gress as to work, offences of prisoners, ray own conduct 
thereupon, and all that it might be necessary for the visi- 
ting Magistrates to investigate and to know : the sugges- 
tion was approved of; and in addition thereto, a journal 
was decided on to be kept by them also, wherein to be 
noted all their orders, visits, approvals or disapprovals of 
my mode of governance, and indeed every step taken by 
them. Late occurrences have taught me to rejoice that 
such journals were kept; they are glorious documents 
for me, and would exculpate me from any, and from all, 
charges, were they to be read by the world. I have 



CHAPTER III. 

Introduced thj& circurostpince, bpwey^i merely to sbev^ 
that 1 was anxious that the yisitiiig .Magistmtes^ iin^ 
their whole body, should bare conliniiaUy beforetbeoi 
every occurrence of the Gaol ; that they should lia.y« the 
power of correcting. me whea wroiie^ and approviog my 
conduct when rigjit; and indeed^i that I should be .19 
soipe measure ligihtened, hj such meansi of thjatign^ 
lo^d.of responsibility necessarily devolving npon fop^ 
I sh$iU have oqc^sion frequently to revert to thes^ jou^r 
nab, and shall therefore close oiy reo|iarks on them ^ 
present^ challenging every gaol in the Empire to pro» 
duce so minute a narrative of occurrences^ and perfect 
history of events, as my journal f if raishes fortbelaat 
fourteen years. 

. To resume, however, the thread of my narrative. 
Dividing the chapel into several compartments^ so as t^ 
keep each class of prisoners distiqojt, became a v;^ 
early improvement ; and I may as wdl introduce be^ 
the. cause of the gr^t blunder cqmoiitted by,Ald€i[man 
Wood in his Report on the State of; Prisons in 18 Ij^ 
relative to this very.cbapeU The fact is^ then, tliiittbc; 
Committee appointed tp report pn the sev^eral Gaolp tbejf 
visited (of which body the wprtby Alderman formied s^ 
part^ remained but a very s|iQrt time at Ilcbester. . \ 
happened not to be at home at the period of their visit,, 
but I know they inspected the Gaol v^y superficialljs 
indeed, and that they trusted to a Report drawn up by a 
getftleman of Ae fiame of Nield, moro llum foUi: years 
before. ' [Appendix A will fully explain this matter.} 
It was rather unfortunate for the worthy Alderman that 
hesboiild have adopted the very words and descriptton 
of this narrative written four years before : perhaps stfll 
more unfortunate for me. The matter occasioned much 



CHAMEII in. 

squabble at (he Hide ; but, after all, my (banks are moat 
'due (o him for the kind enlogia he was pleased to pass 
ton the state of the Gaol^ and the manner in which I had 
|[ierformed my diily. 

' '- Again toresumei however : great alterations were im« 
mediately undertaken in the male infirmary. Hitherto 
the door of this building had been close to that of the 
chapeli 'so that if contagious disease should happen 
MtxMf there was but very confined power to prevent 
1(8 spreading. This was altered. The male felons also 
had the power of communicating with the prisoners ia 
the infirmary through their kitchen-windows. This was 
also speedily altered, the infirmary enlarged, and a 
kitchen and scullery provided for it out of other arcades. 
' Small wards were also quickly built, called refractory 
wards, wherein those who were so sentenced, or others 
that might merit it by vicious conduct in prison, could 
be solitarily confined. 

The arches* over the felons' cells being discovered, 
<m inspection, to be only S{ inches thick, they were im- 
mediately undertaken, and rendered efiectually secure. 
It is remarkable that no escapes had ever previously 
faken place from these cells, for an athletic man might 
have made a hole through their roof almost by one blow 



. * This defect was disoo?ered tbroagh Uie means of Renben 
Haubaoiy a priioDer under sentence of death. Oo being visited 
one evening in bis cell, according to my custom, I found that be 
had succeeded in brealiing a bole through the roof, and in the 
ooarao of a few minutes I have no doubt he would have eflfocted 
his escape. The weakness of these arches will be best exempli* 
fied by the fact, that he made the breach with no other instrument 
than an iron spoon, given to him to eat his gruel with. 



GHAPTBR III. 

with his fist : yet these celk were bailt by contracty and 
had cost the county an immense sum. * 

The cells on the ground floor being stated to be damp- 
and nncomfortablei every precaution possible was used 
to correct their humidity. Tlie floors were dag dawa 
to a considerable depth, the earth removed, and.theezca* 
rations filled up with broken bricks, and other matqrifd. 
of a like nature, in order to keep them dry and healthy. 

Great impediineiits having hitherto existed to the 
free run of water in the river, these were also removed^ 
at amazing labour, by the prisoners ; the County Bridgo. 
considerably improved, and the road over jt made firm, 
and excellent. These were great and most necessary 
improvements ; for, from the frequency of inaadation, 
from the river, it became a matter of imperative utility 
to facilitate the free running of the stream ; and it was 
at length effected, as far as human agency could do so. 

It may be right for me in this place to state, that up. 
to this period it had been the practice to employ thie 
prisoners only in excavating and laying foundations^ 
letting the buildings themselves to contractors; .but as : 
prison labour was now thoroughly introduced and unin* 
termittingly persevered in, such labour was let to the, 
contractors themselves in the progress of their works« , 
The.good effects arising from this system were mnltifo|ds 
there was no introduction of strangers into the Gaol ; 
the prisoners were catching a knowledge of the art at. 
which they assisted, and by which subsequently the- 
Gaol became much benefited, for it will be seen that 
shortly afterwards a most complete and entire ward was 
built by themselves alone, without any mi^n or archi* 
tect whatsoever being employed by the county. Th^y 
were also considerably helping to defray the expense of 



CHAPTER ni. 

.... 

meir own support, if not entirely paying for it; upwards 

of one hundred pounds having been received from con- 

CiBctorsby the county, at one payment, for prison labour 

alone. Thus this introduction of employ benefited the 

prisoners mentally and corpbreally, assisted the connty,' 

tfndwas productive of good in everyway in which good 

cotdd be expected to arise. 

Httberto all executions had taken place a considcr- 

able distance from the town, on a common by tlie road 

side. It may be deemed invidious in me by some, and 

considered incredible by others, shoald I enter into a 

minute detail of the scene Ilchcster presents on the day 

that unhappy beings are appointed to pay the last 

debt to the laws they have outraged ; but as a brief 

narrative of facts is my object, I am bound to describe 

it. This day, then, at Ilchester is called 7/tf7ig'-/air day: 

the people assemble from the surrounding parishes, and 

I myself have witnessed, on returning from the place of 

execution, numbens of them dancing in the ale-houses of* 

the town. Once, in particular, I observ'ed it in the tap-- 

house of the principal inn: I made complaint of it' 

instantly, and caused it to be stepped. On another' 

• ' ' I * f f 

occasion, I accidentally met a Magistrate, who is also la' 

member of the House of Commons, and pointed out to 

h)m these disgraceful proceedings; the totvn' at that 

very time presenting the appearance of a'pfcrfe^t A'ir. 

He very properly noticed it by calling the attention of 

the Magistrates to the circumstance in the papers of the 

day. It is still fresh in my memory, and will remain 

8b as long as Reason holds her seat, that one inhabitant 

of Ilchester, an innkeeper, who was moreover a member of 

a troop of yeomanry, and nearly related to Mr. Lawyer 

**^*, made the following reitiarks to mc on thd occasion 

of 



cnAnBR in. 

<lf isooie uafiiMrtunftfie wretches baying r^cpi^. 4)^,B(^a(|| 
m/erpjr.i '^ So, Mr.^ Bridlei there are npq<s ^l" the priBOfi^if ^ 
tQ lie b«|Bg, then.^; ;3y G — , it.is a 8haii\e of the Jui^^; 
(a r€|)i^ieye theoi, all;., for danni me jif Ilchfister;^) 
worth Uving .in wUhppt tjbrerc 9xe A^ng^/amsLf^ig^i^ 

Many ajtlme.b^ihe r^ot and, ^l^jj^iroC il;Qn)9lK^ 
dirturbed th€ onbapigr .crj^iiiial; i^iJtiU l^sf ^loments, / pf)^ 
his way in a cart to, the plac^-pf c^^ujliqi^; jaod tq,sii.9b 
abeighMid itat itwfft arriv«,.jtb^t;tb^ ppor cj^^in^ 
(h^maelyes have s addressed remark and adnionitipai.. ta. 
the aorroundiog reyeUipg multitqd^ ]>fo^bing^ Me|sd^, 
$h0rt of actual obnenraJLioi^ could bayjsindaced mt.UjL 
credit what I myself hvrq witnessed on these melaacbplj, 
occasions ; but there are thousands in the county who 
know the truth of this statement, and who, moreover, 
would add, that the description given of Ilchester nearly 
two hundred years ago,* bears good now. 

To remedy this crying evil I most assiduously la- 
boured. After great difficulty, and much opposition, 
it was ordered that the walls of the front lodge should be 
raised, the roof made flat, a drop erected (the model of 
which I had been at great pains to procure), and that all 
executions in future should take place thereon. This 
was quickly effected ; and the unhappy culprits, instead 
of being dragged in a cart through a drunken and riot- 
ous populace, instead of having their last moments of 
devotion disturbed by the sounds of intoxicated bias- 



* ** AH Ilchester is Gaol, say prisoners there.'' 
** That is they are so hard-hearted/'— Vide Collection of English 
Proverbs with short annotations, edited by J.Ray, M.A. Cambridge; 
printed In 1678 by John Hayes, printer to the University. 



CHAI^R in. 

pbemy, or nnfetlmg bnrste of ladglif er, are now remored 
frOtti tbe cbapel to the place of Execution without Hanoy- 
alfiGe, without hindrance, and without any eztranebttar 
addkibn to that agony which the'seniie of their awrol* 
sltUMion alone mtiM sufficiently ibflitit; But tMn is not 
the only good arising from the improyement t kaftg^ftm* 
hiiow less'ftequcMed thah usulil^^ annuttlly falling off; 
ikid although' I diespair that Ikhesfev will erer beoom^ 
finned either for Ikmesty or morftlity, yet some chedk 
hafr been giten to their power of provmg to the kihgdom 
fltet there is one townihii where the seVetittt exeenMbtt 
of the law produces revehyt; and whlftHa eV^Atf, ottir 
«rhich Pi(y drops a tear, and evtih JuMioe w^ps, elioit 
delight, and drunkenness, and joy. 



CHAPTER IV. 



CoiiMmatumof ike ^em^ieiaiEffeoiiand bcallmprcvemeiUi, 
ariting wtof the Iniroditctum of Pruon Labour^ 



jMLt object in the piosecotioii of this work 
is to combine as briefly und succinctly as possible the 
state of perfection^ order^ and cleanliness to which the 
Qfol at Ilchester was brought und^r my snggestioii, 
fi,qperii^tendance, and gorernment : to prove therefrom the 
manner in which I performed my duty to the county, 
the benefits arising from the introduction of prison 
laliQuri and the progressive and easy advancement made 
in meliorating! both the imprisoned, and their place of 
confinement. I am far from arrogating to myself ai^y 
other credit than merely that of suggesting^ and AYs- 
geniljf overlooking^ every thing taken in hand ; it is to 
the protection I received from Sir J. P. Adand ao4 
.other Magistrates that the praise is due. He in par- 
ticular was. pleased to think me an efficient officer i to 



CHAPTBR IV. 

listen toy and approre of, my plans, and to render me 
every facility in their execution. My eflkiency, mj 
diligence, my anxiety to perforin my duty, however, 
have been lately attempted to be controverted. Be it 
so. But I have both the leisure and the power to rebat 
the attempt ; and 1 feel, that honestly and nnsophistically 
to shew the world what I hqv^ dp|ic)| will clear me from 
the foul and filthy charges the << High Priest of Rioi'^ 
hath so plentifully poured out against me, were they a 
thousand times more heavy than they are. 

It hath been already stated, ii^ the ^first division of 
this work, that females of all classes, whether debtors or 
felons, were confined together : this was soon remedied ; 
the women's ward divided into two classes and com* 
partments, and a lodge erected for the matron^ solely 
by the labour of prisoners. At this time, the female 
part of the population of the Graol had amazingly in- 
creased ; and it became a measure of vital importance 
to {Procure employment for them also. * Accordingly^ 
tlie system of putting out the \Uitn and bedding of the 

. ' • * 

Ciaol into the town to be washed, Was abandoned^ a 
wbsh and laundry hotise commenced, and in Jbly, 1810; 
completely finished. These buildings were perfbrm^ 
(by contract, the prisoners assistingas labourers only. 

lam free to assert that this establishment, for the 
employment of female prisoners, surpasses m^st others 
of the kind in the kingdom, and is in itself surpassed by 
ndtie. in it work is found for all the women prisoners 
ih the Gaol. They are moved into it at 8 in the morn- 
ing'; at 1, go to dinner; at S, return again to their 
iAftbur, where they remain until 6. (These are their 
slimmer hours, in winter their period of work is propor- 
tlonably shorter.) The wash-house is fitted up with a 



CHAPTER IV. 

'cdfnpleitf set of trouglts* in a frame (being for soperidr 
to tabs), a lye-oiitern for soft water, a boiling coppet 
fixed in a i^ess, to prevent the steam from hanging 
about the toom afnd annoying the people ; and here six 
womefi aso generallj at work in' washing only. The 
dobr ^ (his apatr^ent leads ifi€o a spacious cbnit- 
yard, iHMe thb Knbn, fto. is hung out to dry, under 
the inspeblion -of the matron. 

Fiom the warii-house you ascend a flight 6t steps 
irito a large room, where there is a store for the ironing, 
a mangle^ folding^taUes, Sec; and here six or eight 
women are also constantly employed in that necessary 
branch of housewifery. From this room you enter 
another on the same floor, called the drying«room, fitted 
up with diying^horses worked by pulleys, yet so com- 
pletely pfaioed oat of the way, that the room may be 
used for any <ither purpose whatever. In it there is 
also every contenienoe provided fer the employment of 
the remaining females at sewing and knitting. As soon 
as this establishment Wfts completed, great and benefi- 
cial results were immediately produced : clean bedding 
and' linen was provided weekly, or oftener when re* 
quired, for the use of every prisoner in the Gaol ; a 
measure extremely calculated to preserve their health, 
and which until now could never be regularly and 
eflectnaUy accomplished. The women were constantly 
employed, and by such employ earning the means of 
adding to their own comforts. Some idea of the labour 



* Although we bad no cooper in the Gaol, we managed to 
get these troagbs made within it by the prisoners, and their con- 
stnictioo baa been aniveffsally admured. 



heietperformed may lie. cooceived fnm tfie fiwl5 that in 
Ibia laundry and .work room linen and bedding foe tuo 
bttodred prisoneo is waahed weekly, besides bc^u^ 
niade and kept in nptAt. In addition to this, all tbe 
atticles of dicnt wwrn by the female pviaonen, tbe phtita 
andftockb^woni'by the men, the heda aad^piUMrf^ 
Sec. axe here made np^ aot only for the W Ptmn^Mm 
of the Gaol itself, but likewiae for. the Homes of CqrpfO- 
tion at Sheptoni-MaUet ^and Wilton ; the I^fiq^ers of 
those establishments always drawing on ^this Gaol for 
4Blop6, whenever tiiey might happen to want them. 
-ThuS) in the course of a few months, this gmat and 
neeessary branch of labour and economy was introdiMsed 
mnd completed : and it was sabsevientty detwnin^ 
Jjhat as the iotvodac^ion of stiange women into the Gaol 
might be attended /Mrith anf^easant oonse^pieifoes^ the 
different officers of the establishment were diiaeted to 
send all their liaen and bedding d their lespeetite 
families to be washed by the, prisoners also. 

Thb establishment for the employment of the women 
was completed in July, 1810. To bring befone my 
jreaders at one comprehensive view some idea of the 
benefit that arose out of it, and tbe labour perfooned 
jlbereiii, I shall merelyadd, that, independently of dte 
^washing, making, and mending all the artiiiles already 
enumerated, for the iise of this Gaol itself, the fidlowlng 
articles were made in addition, and siKpplied from this 
estabUsbmient to the two Houses of Correction at Shep^ 
ton and Wilton between that period and October, 18 18^ 
alone, being within the space of little more than 8 years: 

Gowns • • One hundred and twenty-two. 

Petticoats Two hundred and two. 

Aprons • • One hundred and forty-two. 



C{lA¥¥Sil IVi 

Sh{rii:.i T^oliuiidfedatide%Uty-eight. 
' Shifts . . r One hundred and' thirt j-two. 
Caps • . • One hfundred' and vtxijAmOp 
Stockings One hitHdi^dahd fifty-two patrsJ 
' Sucb was theetttci produced by the introduction to€ 
flmnile labour into the Gaol atllobester ; a measure siig* 
gested, planned, and^ndertaken 6y myself, under the 
approbation of the Magistrates, and which I succeeded 
iti brihging to as great a d^ee of perfection as it possi* 
My' could be bfonght. It elicited the admimtion and 
j^nUfie of all who inspected it : it eorrscted the Tiolouff 
habits of the prisoners, by allowing theranotimete 
fcUowthenr up; gave additional means to their com* 
Mta ; softened the rigour of theirimprisonnient, by fitt^ 
fitg* up those hours fiiat othei^ise would hate moved 
heavily on ; was an immense itetMg to the county ; pun 
ductiye of satisfaction to my^lf, and comfort to etety 
itetnsHe committed to my cafe. Let it be contrasted with 
Che condition in which I found Itb^ feraialoB when 1 toeie 
Ite commtuid of this Gao(, and I think' tihe benefit of the 
iititrodttctidn, on that score' alone, wiH pi^re how praise* 
worthy was the !mprovemeftt« • 

The addifiohal buildings^ erf the Gaol, bowevi^i^) 
went rapidly on ; and in ooisequente of the adraieaUe 
manner ia which the matron^s li>dge, and tho watt 
ffiat ditided the female wlirds, had been built by pvt4 
son 'labour, uniBssisted by any msBon oraidiiteot-firom 
trfthoiit, it was determined^ that au entire ward riMmld 
ibe immedbitaly' cbmiteBCed lobe built liy them aboi 
and to be' called the mtsdemeanoi»^ ward. The site 
marked out f6f it' was occupied by a heap of old bmUv 
ings used as a debtors' cooveramion-room, lumberHRxmis^ 
carpenters* shop, ftc. These were immediately re« 



^ CRAPTBR IV. 

moved y and allhoiigh the area wag much loo small for 
the purpose^ yet a ward was constructed thereon that 
excels any other in the whole Gaol. 

In consequence of the increase of prisoners thb ward 
is now used for tinie*men. It possesses sleeping-rooms 
and cdls for thirty prisoners, has the best and nioBt 
roomy kitchen in the prison, was built by the pri-. 
ikMfers alone, and by them completed , ftoxsk the founda^ 
lion to the chimneys, without any assistance whatever 
either from mason or architect i no man out of , tb^t 
Gaol was employed about It, except a glazier ; and. 
with this sole exception, not a shilling was paid by the 
county for its erection but to the prisoners alone. It 
was begun and completed, in the space of ten montha; 
every stone used in the erection was prepared by the 
prisoners, and it now stands the best-built, strongest, and 
most cooYenient ward in the whole Gaol. 

This circumstance will suificiently shew the state of 
improvement to which prison labour was by this time 
brought in the construction of edifices ; but on the. score 
of savkig to the county, the benefit < thereby was roost 
material. It is recorded in the Magistrates* Jqurnalt 
April 18, 1816, that the construction pf this ward alone 
by prison labour eflfected a public saving of jffSOO. TbfS 
tibservatioQs made :by visitors too, on,t|ie fi^ngplarity of 
prisoners, building their own places of coofiiienient, wjera 
many and amusing, serving at least to show the novelty 
of the introduction. . 1 remember one instance in parti* 
cular: the visit of a Mr. Koe, of Lpndon, who informed 
me he belonged io a committee about to try the experi* 
meat of building a prison for botfs. On examining this 
very ward, and. being informed that it was built by the 
prisoners akoe^ he was evidently astonished. << Had 

you 



CHAPTER IV. 

# 

Jim no arcbitoct ?'* said he, < No, Sir/ I replied ; 

* Sir J. Achuid and mjself were the $u'chitec(5| and the 
prisoners the arti6cers.' << Good God !" he exdatmed^ 
t^.ls it possible ?— And who succeeded in making thcya 
s^r^ I explained bow^ (and which I shall explain also 
to my readers in a future page,} and his astonishment 
incfieasedf. He parted from me however with this ktnd 
eulogjum t ^^ S^'t.you will not do yourself justice without 
you. take care that the whole body of the Magistracy 
of the county are brought acquainted with your meriv 
toriotts exertions^ and fulfilment of more than your duty. 
I a<Q;SUffey they have only to know what you have done 
in this Gaol, to call forth their thanks, appreciatioB^ 
flid unlimited protection." 

To shew farther the perfection to which the state of 
|uriao(i labour had now arrived, and the opinion enter- 
tained.of ils good effects by those who inspected the 
Gaol, I shall insert verbatim the, description given by 
Mr> Fqwell Buxton, in his ^< Inquiry whether Crime.aml 
Misery are produced or prevented by our present Sys- 
tem of Prison Discipline ;" published in 1818 ; page 1S4. 

• •• • ' . . . ••■.•* 

^ IliCHESTER GA0|«. ! ^ 

< This Jail stands in an airy situation : a consider- 

< able part of it was built by the prisoners, without the 
^ assistance of any other mechanic, arttzan, or labourer ; 
^ and that part is allowed to be, both in point of sta- 

^ bility and neatness, the best workmanship in the Jail. 
^ This happy suggestion has produced a very important 
^ saving to the county* It \kas certainly produced a 

< very important change in tlie manners of the prisoners s 

< their beha?iour, and the skilfulness they have ac- 



CHAPTEB IV. 

< qnited in the yarions departments of bnilding, maj 

< excite a well-grounded hope, that, when released, (bey 
^' will desist from their former practices, and adhere to 
^ those habits of industry, and to those methods of obtain- 

< ing an honest livelihood, which thej hare thus learned. 
^'One cannot but admire an arrangement, which em- 
^ ploys prisoners in erecting their own prison, and in 
^ pretenting the possibility of their own escape ; and 

< which at once^ and by the sameeffi>rt, enlarges the 
^ Gaol, and diminishes the number of its future inmates.* 

. P&ge 131 .-^^ I was not so fortunate as to seethe 

< Jailor; but the aspect of the Prison convinced me, 

< that he had well performed his duty to the Magistrates 

< who employ him, and that they had nobly discharged 

< theirs to the county in which they reside.** 

Such was the opinion of as acute an observer, and 
as good a man, as any now living — a man, who made 
the melioration of the heart, and a curtailment of hu« 
hum misery, the great object of his life; and, to the 
effecting of which, be brought splendid talent and un* 
abating perseverance. I have made the above extract, 
to prove that the system I adopted was considered a 
good one ; that it was appreciated by those who were 
b^ acquainted with what was praiseworthy in prison 



■r«i 



^ Hunt bus asserted, with bis nsaal qQantam of faltebocMi, 
that *' I imposed op this geotlemaD.** To refute this, I need ooly 
inefitioii the fact, that J was from home at the time be inspected 
tiie Gaol, and that I never had the hunoor of seeing him tml oaee 
in my life, wbicb was when I was examined before a Committee 
of the HoQse of Commons on the state of Gaols, in May, 1819, 
nearly a year after he had given his work to the World. 



CHAPTER IV. 

discipline. And although a Committee of Magtstracy 
has since decided <<that, in some instances^ neglect of 
duty has been proved against me;" jet, I proudly 
asert, that, by such decision, they merely gareone 
more illustration of the ease with which services are 
foigotten, and diligence neglected. One feeling how- 
ever I can never be deprived of : a conviction, that I 
ever conscientiously and fully performed my duty to 
them, the public, and the prisoners. Be it the object 
of thb work to shew^ too, how far I can perform that 
duty to fnt/$df. 



CHAPTER V. 



Imprwemenii of the Gaol, continmed-- Manufadory buUi^ ^4 



On the truth of the axiom that << Idleness 
is one great cause of sin, and industry one great caase 
of reformation,*' I have ever implicitly relied. The 
foregoing pages will satisfactorily shew how far 1 had 
succeeded in introducing labour and order into llchester 
Gaol ; but as that labour was of course principally con- 
fined for a certain period to merely building and im- 
proving the Gaol itself, I became naturally anxious to 
provide sources of employment for the prisoners after 
the simple local improvements of the place should have 
reached their climax. 

1 began to act on this idea almost as soon as it pre- 
sented itself, by employing all the unfortunate titidesmen 
committed to my care in the handicrafts they knew, and 
to teach others that were ignorant any little business thai 
might benefit themselves or the GaoL We first intro- 
duced the manufacture of knitted gloves, mittens, 



CHAPTER V. 

df&yieysy cnffs, &c. and straw hats for the prisoners : 
tbe latter, however, being soon found too weak and 
inefficient, their manufacture was abandoned for that of 
l^nitted worsted caps, such as'^lEire still worn. The 
success of this experiment quickly 1^ me to believe 
that a general trade might easily be established highly 
beiieficial to the cotinty ; as the sale of the proceeds 
would tend, if successful, to eafuse the prisoner to sup- 
port himself during his imprisonment. No sooner had 
tbe suggestion presented itself than I made tbe experi* 
mentby introducing shoemaking as "a general business. 
I must make mention, however, o^ the faet, that, un- 
willing to burthen the county with the speculative^ 
experiments I was thus anxious to make, I actually 
embarked my own capital in this business, and carried 
it 'on solely at my own risk two wbdie years ^ during 
which period I had upwards of fout hundred pounds 

laying dead in it. 'Such, indeed, was my anxiety f60 

« 

the fate and good success of 'the* experiment, that I 
would willingly have spent liiy last shilling to have 
perfected my plan. 

At the end, however, of two years, the magistrates' 
joined in the trial of the experiment, and the business 
wais prosecuted until the yeiar 1817, when it was 
abandoned, on account of not b^ing found sufficientfjr 
profitable to be pursued as a general gaol trade. • ' 

The following is a statement of the capital embarked* 
in the business, together with the sums paid to the pri« 
soners for labour during some part of the period : 

Capital embarked. Paid 'for X4iiM>iir.' 

1813— jff528 : 15 : llf ^39: 7:3 
1814— 720 : 18 : 58 : 17 : 11 ^ 
1817— 675 : : 9 38 : 3 : 11 



CHAPTER V. 



»<... HM* 



paring the time, however, this plao was in p.«'.«^.#*.«^PHy 
much benefit arose from it to the prisoners themsdves s. 
many of them becoming complete masters of the trade, 
Hnd capable of earning an honest livelihood on their 
release from gaoL One man, in particular, who bad 
been convicted of sheepstealing, but whose punishment 
was commuted to two years' imprisonment, acquired the 
art of shoemaking so perfectly in that period, that he 
has ever since supported himself thereby. It may nol 
beafuiss, perhaps, to dwell on this circumstance a little, 
and to speculate on what might have been the proboUe^ 
fyitp of this roan, had not such a plan been adopted ii| 
thfii bouse of his confinement. His character ruined| he 
If ould have quitted the Gaol without the power or the, 
hope of procuring employment, and would consequently, 
mayhap have been from necessity obliged to lesoittgi 
thosp practices that would have again consigned him ta 
pijuBon, and perhs^iis to an ignominious death. Insteadl{ 
qf which, he acquires a trade, becomes accustomed to^ 
habits of industry ; the money paid him for his labour, 
adds to his comforts in gaol, and enables him to return 
tp ^le bosom of his family, with both the power and the 
wiU to live ever after by the honest labour of his own, 
hands. This however is but one case out of many, 
wherein the vicious habits of the prisoner have been 
corrected, industrious habits inculcated, and the common 
depr^ator metamorphosed into an honest man.* 



* V Priioo labour is the groand-work of all impovementSy 
" of general tranqoillity, and hope of reformatioD in a prisoner's 
** habits of life and disposition of mind. Give a prisoner action bjr 
'* labour and employment, and it ivill give him a determined 
** direction towards a better system of life: industrious habits 



CHAPTER V. 

' I have already mentioned that shoemaking wai 
abandoned as a general trade on account of its not being 
found sufficiently profitable : the making of shoes for 
sale vrns therefore discontinued, and the future prosecu* 
tion of the business confined to the making and mending 
them for the use of the Gaol, and the other two Houses 
of Correction only. 

' Pending the period, however, of the trial of this 
experiment, some workshops were built ; and an old 
man became committed to prison, through whose iiv^ 
strumentaiity 1 succeeded in introducing another and a 
more profitable branch of manufacture. He was by 
trade a weaver and wool-comber, and had been con* 
victed of receiving stolen goods at the prosecution c^ a. 
very respectable manufacturer, who hitherto supplied 
the Gaol with tick for bedding, dowlass, &c. It came 
accidentally to my knowledge that the old man. had a 
Idom. I prevailed on him to send for it into the Gaot. 
lie very readily entered into my views of teaching his 
trade to other prisoners, and in this manner weaving 
was introduced. I began by giving him two apprea« 
lices ; these he continued at the loom alternately until 
they had acquired that branch of the business : thia 
being effected, a comb-pot of his own making was fixed 
in the same shop with the loom, and combing and 
spinning was in like manner taught the boys. Tbey. 



"'most be created, be the expense what it may, and Iheniprai 
** effects produced will compensate for all numerical loss that may 
'< be sustained.'' — ^Yide Sir J. P. A eland's Evidence before the Gaol 
Committee of the House of Commons, Jane, 1819. 



CHAfTER V. 

baving at length acquired the whole business, I gaire 
other apprentices to the •old man, and from that period 
we commenced the, manufacture of dowlass, linsej tick^ 
and worsted, for the uses of the Gaol. 

The old man's loom was also a model for us by 
which to make others. The number of weavers rapid \y 
increased, and it was soon discovered that enough 
materials could be ■manufactured to supply, not only the 
Gaol itself, but the other two Houses of Correction 
likewise. In the course of a short time the manufac* 
tory was enlarged by prison labour, and ultimately 
brought to consist of a very large shop for carpenters 
and coopers, with proper stores and implements ; a 
slave-room for wool and yam ; two carding and spiR^ 
iing shops, containing a tudier, a carding and two spin* 
ning engines (one of the spinning* engines and the tucker 
were made by the prisoners themselves); eight other 
shops, having eight narrow and two broad looms, warp^ 
ing engine, and all the necessary apparatus required 
by the weaver to flnisb cloth ; together with a shop 
for shoemakers and tailors. 

I cannot give the prodess of the labour carried on 
in this manufactory a better, or more faithful deli* 
neation,than by adoptingthe description of Mr. Fowell 
Bvxton, in his Inquiry, &c. ; a work to which I have 
befefe referred. 

Page 125.—* But, besides the buildings which have 

* given employment to a number of masons, bricklayers, 

* carpenters, and painters, manufactures to a consi- 

* derable extent are carried on. All the prisoners are 
f clothed in a dress, every article of which they make. 

* In the store-room 1 saw a collection of suits of cloth- 

* ing for the menj worsted caps, dowlass shirts, jackets, 

waistcoats. 



CHAPnSR V. 



wAistcoatS) breeelio»9 stockings, aod shoes: for the 
general use of the prisan, beds^ mattresses, sheets, 
linen, &c« Eaob of these numerous . branches of 
Udliour fiimishes ocGupatioH to a portion of the pri- 
soners; and the knowledge ofeach trade is perpetnated 
by apprenticing all who come in to. some experienced 
workman.' 

^ It was a sight of mach interest, to see the whole 
process of codyerting wool into cloth, carried on in 
one yard, and that yard within the walls of a prison. 
In the first workshop sereral were engaged in washing 
the wool ; in the second, in dying it ; in the thiid, in 
hand-carding it; in the fourth, in spinning it ; in 
others, looms were in activity, in weaving it; and 
lastly, the tailors were busy in making it into clothing.' 
Some idea of the rapidity with which this m^iif* 
facture was increased and improved may be gathered 
from the following data : the old weaver, before spoken 
of^ was committed to the Gaol at the October Session% 
1815. : through him, as I have already shewn, I intro- 
duced the first principles of the maan&ctuie. At the 
end of three yewrs^ not only had all the prisoners been 
thoroughly supplied with clothfaig, and the Gaol with 
.beds, rugs, bolsters, and blankets ; but the following 
articles had been manufactured, made up, and supplied 
to the two Houses of CSorrection, at Wilton and Shep- 
,ton-Mailet; vias. 

MetCs Jackets One hundred and sixty-eight. 
Waistcoats .. One hundred and sixty-eight. 
Breeches . . One hundred and twenty-six. 
Gowns «... One hundred and twenty-two. 
Petticoats «.. Two hundred and twelve. 
Aprons .... One hundred and forty-two. 



/ 



\ 



CHAPTBR y. 

Shirts .... Two hundred and eif 
Shifts ..•• One hundred and thirty-two. 
Caps . • . • One hundred and sixty-lwa. 
Stockings ... One hundred and fiftyHwo pair* 
Beds ^...^ One hundred and thirty*two. 
Bolsters . • One hundred and thirty-two. 
Blankets . • One hundred and sixty-eight pairs. 
Xugs .* .. One hundred and fifty. 
Worsted • • Thirty-nine poands. 

Bat my aim was not yet thoroughly attained. 1 had 
still my favourite object in view—- theendeavour to esta- 
blish a general business ; and I at length thoroughly 
succeeded. Fortunately for my plan too, a eloth'Weaver 
became committed to my charge; so that I had that 
branch of the art quickly introduced, and in the coarse 
o( a short period 1 entirely succeeded in manufacturing 
from the flax and fleecci to their completion, the follow- 
ing articles (independant of the material required for the 
<3aoI) in a very superior manner, viz. (Appendix B.) 

Mixed beaver broad, narrow, and kersey cloths. 

Drugget for drawing-rooms, stairs, &c. 

Blankets, rugs, and tick for pauper-houses. 

Linen towelling and other goods. 

Superior ready-made ladies' cloak8,*gentlemen's morn- 
ing-gowns, great-coats, gig-rugs, sail-cloths, &c. 
These articles procured a ready sale ; and I find, on 
reference to my papers, that in the course of two years 
one hundred and seventy-eight pounds were received 



* The Countess of Cork, Lady Acland, and many other ladies 
of distinction, purchased several of these cloaks, so much were 
they esteemed. 



CHAPTBR V. 



by the county by such sales, iadependant of the quantity 
8tiU remaining in store. 

Thus a perfect manufactory was established in the 
Gaol, a source of continued employment secured, a new 
mode of profit opened to the county, and of benefit to the 
prisoners themselves. Their ready acquiescence in labour 
was secured by the advantages they themselves reaped, 
every artizan and manufacturer receiving one entire 
fourth of the value of his earnings ; two thirds of which 
were paid him weekly, to enable him to add what he 
pleased to the gaol allowances of victuab or otherwise, 
and the other third funded, that he might have a sum 
of money to receive on his quitting prison. 

It is unnecessary for me to make any comment, I 
trust, on the advantages thus secured both to the pri- 
soner and the county by the introduction of this manu- 
factory: but, stigmatized as I have lately been^ it is 
imperative on me to add, that the suggestion was my 
own, and that I spared neither time, expense, nor una- 
bating and diligent perseverance, in bringing it to per- 
fection, I at length succeeded in doing so: I suc- 
ceeded in the means of teaching many an unhappy igno- 
rant man a trade by which he could afterwards honestly 
maintain himself: I succeeded in implanting industri- 
ous habits, and checking evil propensities in many a 
vicious and idle bosom : and notwithstanding the return 
I have met with from those who ought to have appre- 
ciated and protected me, still I am out of the reach of 
their punishment. I am placed above it by the convic- 
tion that I thoroughly and faithfully fulfilled my duty, 
and I shall yet have my veward. 



CHAPTER VI, 



I 



Beneficial Effect* anting from the latroduetian of the 
Manvfaetoryt ^ ^t forth in th& Report ^ . 
a Committee of MagiMlrmtes. 



In the foregoing chapter 1 hare described 
the introduction, progress, and rise of a complete manu- 
factory in llchester Gaol. I cannot better elucidate the 
effects produced by it, and the opinions entertained 
thereof, than by inserting the fottowing Report ; a re- 
port drawn up for mere county information, but which 
was subsequently laid before a Select Committee of the 
House of Commons, on the S8th dsiy of May, 1819, 
and dated three years and three months after the first 
introduction of the said Manufactory* 



CHAPTEft Vf. 

Report of a Committee of Jmtices on the Sys- 
tern of Labour y 8^c. carried on within the Gaol 
and House of Correction, at Ivekhester, made 
at tfte Epiphany General Quarter Sessions of 
the Peace, holden at the City of fFlslts, on 
Monday the Eleventh Day of January, 1819. 

WEy the underwritten Membem of the Committee 
appointed at a former Session, for the purpose of ex^ 
amining into the system of labour carried 6n within the 
Gaol and House of Correction at Ivelchester, and of 
forming a scheme of account, calculated to shew the 
fNTofit and loss arising froni the labour of the prisoners ; 
«nd also to revise the existing rules and regulations oil 
the said Gaol and House of Correction ; have to report 
as follows: — 

We have erery reason to be satisfied with the 
system of labour carried on in the Gaol and House of 
Correction. 

It has been obviously the result of much experience 
in, and zealous attention to, the several branches of 
industry, which - could with the most propriety and 
convenience have been adopted, aind which have been 
prosecttted with a i^ularity, spirit, and effect, seldom 
seen, where diseipline was les6 exact. 

The new buildings erected, aitd the various improve* 
menti made, by prison labour, exhibit specimens of 
masonry and carpentry, rarely equalled ; and which 
appear to us to have been executed at less than half the 
expense had workmen been hired, and brought into- the 
Gaol for the purpose. 



CHAPTER VI. 

The wbole clothing of the prisoners haa been 
manufactured and made by their own industry; and 
considerable supplies of clothing have been aflforded 
the prisoners confined in the two other Houses of Cor- 
rection in this county, free of expense to those esta* 
blisbments. 

The extensive concern of the laundry has been 
well conducted; and a great portion of every part 
of this useful labour has been effected by many who 
appeared at the commencement o{ their imprisonmenia 
to have been ignorant of all honest means of earnings 
their bread. 

Some of the sources of employmeat in the buildings 
of the Gaol are diminishing ; and, as we understand 
that the grinding of com is practised in some other gaob, 
we beg leave to suggest the propriety of the introduc- 
tion of a similar practice in Ivelchester Gad, proyided 
adequate machinery can be obtained at a moderate ex- 
pense; and we would recommend, that the bread for 
the consumption of the Gaol be baked therein, for which 
the requisite conveniencies already exist. 

We also think an extension of the manufactures 
worthy the consideration of the Court, equal to the de- 
mand which can be obtained, without rendering them 
at a less price than is charged by manufacturers la 
general of similar articles; for although some loss has 
been sustained by them, yet they have afforded, and 
^ will continue to afford, in our opinion, much useful 
instruction to those employed. 

In consequence of the diminution of employment in 
the buildings before alluded to, a Committee of Justices 
assembled at the Gaol, previous to the last Easter General 



CHAPTER VI. 

Quarter ScBsion of the Peace, directed, until farther or- 
dered, that the employment of debtors should be dis- 
continued, except useful mechanics ; and that all ihose 
vrho were entitled to the county allowance should re- 
ceive the same in lieu thereof. 

We are of opinion that this judicious order has 
proved a saving to the county, as in the quarter preced- 
ing, it will appear, on a reference to the document 
accompanying thb Report, No. 1,* that the sum of 
j674 : 7 : 4 was paid to debtors for work in addition to 
one fourth of that sum, jS18 : 11 : 10, as a per centage 
on the labour of debtors hitherto divided between the 
Grovernor and Taskmaster, making together the sum of 
j^93 : 19 ; 2 ; and that the county allowance to the same 
debtors, during that period, would have amounted to 
j^50 : 4 : 6 only, leaving a sum of tSAS : 14 : 8 against 
the county; a difference, probably, not compensated 
by the labour performed : at all events, we are of 
opinion, that no view of the situation of debtors makes 
it advisable to employ them, except it be with advan- 
tage to the county. In the quarter immediately suc- 
ceeding, the whole sum paid to debtors for labour 
amounted to but jfflO : 8 : 5, and in the following quar- 
ter to <i€3 : 17 : 8. 

We find that the wages of labour have been 
estimated at nine pence per day for common labour- 
ers, and from nine pence to sixteen pence per day for 
mechanics. 



* This document is in the office of the Clerk of the Peace, 
where the same may be Inspected. 



duPTsn VI. 

- Debtors (lave i^en patd for their rapport the whole of 
ijie sai4 WAges ; not having receired, when permitted to 
wpvk) the cpuntf alloFwance directed by law for such 9s 
fion\di iKit maintain themselves* The wages of the other 
prisoners hare been divided into four pfirts; one fourth 
part of which has been apjuropriated fo the advantage of 
the prisoner, one fourth divided between the Governor 
and Taskmaateri and the remaining two fourths carried 
jtp the credit of the county. A third part of the fourth 
ao appropriated to the prisoner, if a common labourer, 
.has been funded^ that; is, reserved for him until dis- 
4)harged from prison : if a mechanic, a quarter only has 
been funded, the remainder of the prisoner's fourth 
having been paid to him to aflbrd him additional sus- 
tenance beyond the prison allowance, which addition, 
we are of opinion, was necessary to a person' at labour. 
On this point, we have to observe, that with respect to 
ttiose who have been convicted of offences and were seiH 
to hard labour^ it would probably have been more con- 
ib^nant to law to have supplied them with certain addi- 
tional sustenance, than to have allowed them the propw- 
tion of their earnings to expend for themselves. 

With respeet to the Governor's and Taskmaster's 
proportion, we have to state, that it does not appear to 
us that the oounty^ is authorised by law to remunerate 
more than one person in one- prison in the character of 
taskmaster ; and we are therefore of opinion, that the 
remuneration of the Governor for his services should not 
arise from any proportion of estimated labour, or from 
any other source than that of a fixed salary. 

With pleasure we take this opportunity of bearing 
testimony to the 2seal, activity, and intelligence manl* 

fested 



^ 



CHAPTER VI. 

fdsied by the Governor iliid TaskmosieT) ndthtd Ibeir 
r^spective.departments.. . • .'.:,.. • > "'• 

The next object entrusted to us^ itas ta fprntf asobeme 
of accbiiiit cstlculated.to she withe profit >and. loss, arising 
,froia the laboar of the prisoners. . ' . : v • .. >\ •> it ^ 

On examioattdn, yte hfive had: !them(tisfeotioh..Qf 
findii^ that by- a iiery liUte alteratioa.ia.ihe fenh.',«f 
keeping the accounts, and by directing the value to be 
taken of ^tfce m^teri^lsi ipipV^ents, and stock, belonging 
to the various ^br9Q.oh?9 of li||3our and manufacture car- 
ried onjaud'by takjl^ an account of, and estimating 
the work dc^ij? at rthe; prjc^ which must have been paid 
if labourers ha4 been hire(Jy or, if the articles manufac- 
tured had been ptirohsi^y documents would exist, from 
which at any time CQu|d;b^ ascertained the profit or loss 
incurred by the county, from the time such account of 
the stock, &c. was taken* As these directions were 
given soon after the appointment of your Committee, 
we are enabled to lay the annexed account before the 
Court, which shews the pecuniary result of the whole 
labour in the Gaol from the 3d January, 1818, to the 
Sd January, 1819, both inclusive. 

On inspecting the said annexed account^ it will be ob- 
vious, as before remarked, that a loss has been sustained 
by the manufactures; but there id reason to hope, in 
consequence of the machinery lately introduced, and 
the additional proficiency which experience will afibrd 
the prisoners, that, in future, instead of a loss, a profit 
may be expected. 

It is moreover to be remarked, that the county is 
required to find labour for prisoners in houses of correc- 
tion, and it is difficult to provide sources of profitable 
employment. 



We donbt Mt, Ibat'the Oontt will ate the fUcpnietj 
of directing an acooant^ similar to tibe one annexed^ to 
tetrinraailj preientod* 

in fegaid to (he remainder of dor dntj^ which lefen 
to the remion of the ndes and jegbHaiiam of tii6 Gkud, 
wehaVe to Mate/that some (progress 1ms been made^ and 
we hope to make a report flieieoa at a f alaie seanoii. 

W. DI0KIN80N, 
X PHELiPS, 
TBOBUiS EOOLE, 
ViNCiJNT «TirCK£Y, 
A. MOODY, 
JOHN THRIN6, 
J. PALIiBR A<6IiAND. 



\ 



agggBgBaBsggBBp— isagagggg i ssBSSTSSSSSssssss^s^ssssmmaa 

ThefqlUnmng is the Dr. and Or. Statement of 
Labour performed by Prisoners in the Gaol 
and House of Correction at tvelchester^ from 
Jan. M^ 1818, to Jan. 2d, 1819. 



CHAPTlSR VI. 



STATEMENT OF 



Dr. 




No. 8 



To inventory of tools, &c. carpenters, Jan. ^ i^^ «• 

3d,1818 .... S 

To cash paid carpenters, Hoose ofCorrrection No. 3 
To governor and taskmaster for supertntendance 
To cash paid debtors .... .... No. 5 

To governor and taskmaster for soperinteudance 
To casii paid for tools and repairing .... No. 4 

To inventory of tools, &c. masons . . No. 5 

To cash paid masons, House of Correction . . No. 3 
To governor and taskmaster for superintendance 

To cash paid debtors No. 3 

To governor and taskmaster for superintendance 
To cash paid for tools and repairing .... No. 6 

To inventory ofarticles in the hrandry, Jan. > ^. ^ 
3d, 1818 ..... . ..\ ^^'^ 

To cash paid prisoners in the lann^ry .... No. 3 

To governor and taskmaster for superintendance 

» < • 

To cAsh paid for soap .... 

To cash paid for .wood-ashea 

To cash paid for scissars, &c. 

To cash paid for new furnace 

To cash paid for snd-irons, ironing bok 

To cash paid tailors, House of Correction . . No. 3 
To governor and taskmaster for superintendance 
To cash paid debtors . . .... No. 3 

To governor and taskmaster for superintendance 
To cash paid for large shears . . . . No. 9 

To cash paid for stone pollers and labourers, ) ^ 

House of Correction . . ,..,S* 

To governor and taskmaster for superintendance 
To cash paid debtors . . .... No. 3 

To governor and taskmaster for superintendance 
To cash paid repairing tools No. 10 

To cash paid cooks, constables, and nurses, ) 
House of Correction .. ..5 

To governor and taskmaster for superintendance 
To cash paid debtors .... .... 

To governor and taskmaster for superintendance 

To inventory of stock in trade, looms, &c.l ^ 
Jan. 3d, 1818, manufactory .... J ^<>» ** 

To cash paid manufacturers. House of Cor- I xr • 
rection .... * .. \ ^^'^ 

To governor and taskmaster for superintendance 
To cash paid debtors . . .... No. 3 

To governor and taskmaster for superintendance 



«.| d. 



S 

2 



17 
17 

18| 3 
4IO 



13 
13 

2 




91 

9 

13 

13 



46 

46 

77 
3 
1 

11 
1 

17 

17 

3 



25 
60 
15 



34 



2 



80 

80 
8 
2 













19 

19 

IS 

3 



12 



3412 



18 
14 






2 
3 





21 



16 
18 



56 
St6 



27 



30 



19 



o 

o 



25 



92 



95 



39 



127 15 



10 



72 



181 



170 






19 

13 



3 



13 



6 

3 

6 



10 
6 



11 



19 



18 



18 



H 



3 



10 



* Thu and the other Documents referred to by the numcrak axe in the Office of the Clerk 

of the Peace, where they may be inspected. 



CHiiPBBE VI. 



LABOUR &c. 



'  !  



« « • • 



By amount of carpenten^ work, ai ^ book .. No. 15 
By to<>l8, as per inventory, Jan. 2Qt 1819 • • • • No»16 



2p: 



T 



10119 



SI 



By aiBoant of raasons* work, as ^ book . . No. 15 
By tools, as per inveiitofy, Jan. 2d, 1Q<9 • • No. 17 



By amonnt of lanndry work, as ^ book • • No. 18 
By inventory of laondry articles, Jan. 2, 1819 No. 19 
By cisb, old furnace sold 



• ••# 



for 

38 

9 



3 



5* 



} 



X 



iss 






16 



4* 



i08 
S913 



'! 



by amodnt of tailors* work, as ^*bo6k • . No. 18 
By sbcars and iron 






By aaioont of stone pollers' work, as ^ book No. 15 
By ditto 658 ft. 4 in. and lOS ft 5 fn. *> 

stones polled by debtors • . • • > No. 2 

B^ stones polled by debtors at day work . . j 



By estimated value of labour • . • • 

N. B. This branch of expeme has been incurred 
by the prevalence off ever ^ and other nekneu 
in the Gaol during the patl year. If nurees 
and attendants had been hired and brought 
into the Prison, a stiU greater expense would 
have been incurred. 

By inventory of stock in trade, &c.(maBnlac> 
tory)Jan.2d,i819 .. .... No. 21 



43 



1 

19 
5 



lOj 
10 



] 



14 
15 



38 

22 



6 
6 



! 



1 

11 



9 
10 



1 



13714 



248 6 



H 



44 

88 
€0 



10 



10 
13 



4 

7 



155 



16 



394 



li 



Todilto for aUyi and harnni 
ToeMbpiill for floor and fat ..,, 

To iBDdn bill* fot WMl 

To ditto for *oap 

To ditto for oil and d jMtnff .... 

To vatne of new loom 
To tondr; billa for machinery and artkica 
thereunto briaugiag ..., 

To c«*h Bald fat ihottlM 
To ditto lor abarcori .... 

To ditto for brtuhei . . . . 

To ditto for twine, twenKii, &e. 
To ditto for broad loon, carriage, tee. , , 
To ditto for cardi ,,., ,,,. 

To valne of new tanu, Ac. . . 

To caah paid for cogg-wheati, Ibr Ioohm^c. . 



To Inventor; of stock in trade, dte, 

nahrn, Jan. 3d, 1B18 , 

TocaA paid ihocqiaken,Hoiue of Correction No. 3 
To {ovemor and taikniiiler for aDperinteodaoce 

To CB|h paid deblon .... No. 3 

To BOfcmor and taskmatler for mpeilatetidaiice 



"l No. 13 



To anndiT bill* for leather, tee. 

To ditto for inndrlea ,, .... 

To caib paid for awl'btadet 
To goverooraDd taaktnulet^ ihareontfae 1 
fvrfciled wagea ,, ., } 

Balaace in fitTonr of PriMW l<«boiv 



CHAPTER VI. 



Cr. 



By»74}jp*r(Ubedlk:k .... 

BjTlS — — dowliiu 

By set blinkeUng 

By 68 ditto .... 

By (6 ditto 

By S3 ctoUi 

By S*8 men's liaMy 

ByM8 liDMy .... 

By II — flumet 

By 100 biowD toweninc 

By 57 brown iheetlu 

By tr Kbits ditto 

By 93 — ~ while dowlaH 

By S4 ditto 

By 40 brown cumw 

By 51^ tb. wonted .. 

By 110 yardi cloth 

By fi8{ wfallfl knteyelolh 

By 11 ngi, ckch 1< uid 13 by 8 
By 1A| ywrdi ccdonred Umey 

By lot ditto ., 

By 33 white dm* 



ByuMiiDlofcaDntyiboeUII(,HVbook .. 

By inventory of stock in Ifade, Jan. 3d, 1819 No, » 



• • • • • 



J 



CHAPTER VII. 



General Summan^CaiUra$i ofihe'SMe of Jlehuter Omd 
in November 1821^ to its Appearance in Jvfy 1808* 



JIn my first Chapter I gave a brief but 
ftithfal description of tbe state of the Gaol^ on my as- 
suming the governance thereof. I have since summarily 
narrated the difierent improvements suggested by me^ 
and carried into effect. I have endeavoured to sbe^ 
how asKioosly and unremittingly I laboured to ameli- 
orate both the moral and physical state of the prisoners — 
to benefit the county — and to bring the whole establish- 
ment as near to perfection as possible. It is gratifying to 
me^ even now^ to reflect on the manner in which J per* 
formed my dutyi and the continual meed of praise 
bestowed on me and my exertions. Magistrates from 
other counties were applying to me for descriptions of 
my mode of governance, in order that a similarity of 
procedure might be adopted in the Gaols of their own 
counties respectively.* My opinions^ when called before 

* Independent of the eonespondence opened with me, by letter, 
on the sntject of Prison Govemanee, by Magistrates of the coanties 
of Norfolk and others, (vide appendix C), a deputation from the 



CHAPTER VII. 

a select Committee of the House of Commons, appointed 
to investigate the state of Gaols, in May 1819^ vrere 
received with great considerative kindness, and inde- 
pendent of the handsome eulqgium passed on me by Mn 
Fowell Buxton, in the work to which I have already 
more than once referred, he was. pleased, on his visit 
to the Gaol, to make the following entry in the Magis- 
trates' Journal, dated 6th of April, 1818. 

'^* Visited this Gaol, and must express my admira- 
tion of it. It was clean in every part, and the prisoners 
looked healthy and behaved properly ; I was exceedingly 

Court of Mayor and Aldermen of Bristol vUited the Gaol, and wero 
pleased to make the following entry in the Magistrates' Jonmal, 
dated July 25, 1820. ' ' 

^ We, the undersigned Magistrates of Bristol, having been de- 
puted, by the Court of Mayor and Aldermen thereof, to make fL 
▼isit to the Gaol of Ilchester, for the purpose of deriving information 
in respect to the general management and regulations of the said 
Gaol, preparatory to the occupation of the new Gaol of Bristol ; 
have great pleasure in recording the high satisfaction we experienced, 
in company with Doctor Colston, one of the visiting magistrates of 
the county, during the survey and inspection we made of this Gaol ; 
observing, in every part, the utmost order amongst the prisoners, 
the greater part of whom were usefully employed in their respective 
ooeupations: and also the greatest cleanliness, strikingly apparent 
throughout every part of the prison : at the same time, we cannot 
forbear giving our testimony to the intelligence, civility, andobiig- 
Uig conduct of the Grovernor. 

William Fbippb, 
Henrt Brooke/* 

Independent of this, the gaolers of Norfolk, Exeter, and Devisee^ 
were sent to me by the Magistrates of their respective counties, in 
order to acquire, by ocular demonstration, and instruction from my* 
self, my mode of dil^cipllne and governance.— But now my servloee 
•re all forgotten ! 



CUAfTlSti Til. 

struck with the sysleDi of employment^ and donoifeel 

any. doubt that the magistrates will receive the reward of 
their meritorious attention, in the improved morality 
and industry of those committed to this prison*. 

(Signed) T.F. Buxton/* 

The* entire appearance, cleanliness, order, and disci* 
pline of both the prison and the prisoners, elicited delight 
and approbation from all who inspected ; and so perfect 
was the construction of the Gaol now, become, that by 
a gallery, which I suggested . and procured to be made, 
I could go from my own bed-room throughout the 
entire prison^ (excepting the refractory debtors* and fe- 
males' wards,) without the knowledge either of prisoner or 
turnkey. If I happened to hear the slightest noise in the 
night, therefore, amongst the prisoners, 1 could be on 
the spot in a moment to ascertain the cause ; and had 
the power also of assuring myself, when I pleased, that 
all was right and safe. 

When I reflect indeed on the improvements effected, 
and the means by which they were effected, I am almost 
surprised myself at the Herculean task I have been chiefly 
instrumental in perfoi'ming. I shall not enter into com- 
ment, however, lest I be considered a boaster ; though 
some little egotism may be allowed me, when it b re* 
membered the ungrateful return I have met with, and 
the mass of infamy I have had to oppose. 



* In sapport of ibis assertion I am bound to meniion oii» 
further fact. — My mode of governance was so mnch songbt after, tbai 
my system of paying and funding tbe prisoners^ earnings, was eopied 

and introduced into tbe Penitentiary, at Milbank, wbere, I believe, 

... . . •• „,^ 

it is foUowed np to tbis day. 



CBArVSR TU. 



I AaU now introduee a 

State ofttckeiter Gaot in 
Jufy, 1808, 

The Graol consisted of 
Ave wards, capable of con- 
taining about 80 prisoners, 
and without any power of 
classification Tvhatever. 

Females of all classes, 
whether debtors or felons, 
confined in the same ward. 



cMtfasf betwwn Ott 



and the 



State of tichester Oaol im 
If<n>. 1821. 



No employment for the 
prisoners whatsoever, whe- 
ther mate or female. 



Thedemeanor of the pri- 
soners, drunken, frenzied, 
and brutal — ^their persons 
and Knen, dirty, squalid, 
and disgusting. 



Increased to thirteen 
wards,^ and has since con* 
tained 206 prisoners. Clas- 
sification can now be pec* 
fectly carried into efiect^ 
with a population of 150. i 

There are now two wards 
for female prisoners, and 
one for female debtors. The 
latter apartment, howeyer^ 
is at present occupied by 
the prisoner Hunt. 

At present erery prCsoner 
able, wining, and trust-wor- 
thy, is employed in useful 
labour — ^A manufactory of 
cloth being established ca- 
pable of employing sixty 
men, besides taylors, shoe- 
makers, &c. A laundry 
for females also, wherein 
thirty may be continually 
kept at work. 

The demeanor of the 
prisoners generally, civil,- 
respectful, and orderly — 
their perscms and linen clieaitf 
and wholesome. 



* Vid0 the Annexed pltti, No. 2. 



CBAnfER ¥ir. 



The spitcwm areas and 
yards, unpaved|< filthy, aod 
90 muddy tbat eyer/penon 
was obliged to step ftmn 
one stone to another^ to keep 
dry feet In dne part of 
the Gaol indtfed, altfgtaiit 
water waa oecamonalily ly 
ing to the deptfi of ten feet. 
All executiods took pkice 
tf boiiC kalf a mile from tbe? 
town, by the voad^side; ta 
wbidi spot, the uahappj 
orimmals weie drugged in a 
caft^ ihrougli a mob of un* 
feeling and riotOB» people, 
whereby their sufibifdgtf 
were hscveasedy and lbei# 
last monseou of devoti^if^ 
distracted and dlst«vbed« 

Pikoaei^ eotiiSbed here, 
Inmng' M^euj^teym^nt Air- 
idtlied thtt% of Mcesiitf 
becaaoewoiw member of 
soeMy lh«itt they wero be^ 
fore; T£h€te being m> in-> 
centive to virtue, bttt a great 
tendency to rice, vice con- 
fleqnently ppetailed : and it 
cannot be an extravagant 
hypotbeiBis to advance, that 
if a matt ber eonfiifed two 



NaifeMert tM\. 
The whole site> hemih 
fore occupied by tlie keqier^ 
atf gavden^ stebks, cow<* 
house,, ft<^« now corered hf 
additional baildnig* to the 
GaoL Ail the wattfe Md 
yards paved and pltebe^ 
and the areas perfectly dff 
and clean. 

Executions now take 
place on a new drop, erect* 
ed on the roof of the front 
lodge ; the consequence is 
that the unfortunate wretch- 
es pass to their last earthly 
scene undisturbed : and that 
most pre-eminent disgrace 
to a civilized country, IZ- 
Chester hang^fair, is rapid- 
ly falling away. 

All prisoners under sen- 
tence now regularly labour. 
And as an additional proof 
of the good effect produced 
by such an introduction, I 
shall cile a part of the evi- 
dence given by Sir J. P. 
Acland, before a select 
Committee of the House of 
C9mmons, appointed to in- 
quire into the state of Gaols^ 
&c. Tide mtnufes of that 



CRAPTBR TIL 



Jmfy, 1806. 
yean vfkh another man 
fvorse than himself, within 
that period, he will learn to 
equal him in depmrity, un- 
less labour, or some other 
method be introduced, to 
break in upon that idleness, 
which is the mother of all 
evil. 



*: 



a 



The whole of the Gaol 
insecure; particularly the 



Nwember, 18S1. 
endence, page 871, 7tb of 
June, 1819. 

^< I have a man who oo* 
casionally works ferine as 
a cabinet-maker; he had 
been committed to Ilchester 
Gaol for theft. When this 
man went to prison he was 
a common carpenter; he 
improved himself during 
his imprisonment in joiners* 
work, and is now a cabioet- 
maker: this advancement 
he owes to knowledge ac* 
quired in prison : I employ 
him in my house, give kim 
the liberty of going into all 
my rooms, as unguarded as 
if he had never been in pri- 
son, and I do not know 
whether I had not sooner 
trust him than another per- 
son, because he knows what 
the loss of character is ; no 
man has conducted himself 
better than he has since be 
left prison.'* 

Such is a specimen of the 
effect produced by labour 
and discipline. 

The Gaol is now as strong 
and as secure in eyery pari 



CHAPTER VII. 



. . ^ Jufyf 1808. 
fdooB^ and condemned cells • 



No religions book of any 
description, amongst the 
whole mass of felons. 



No book relative to, or 
descriptive of, the events 
of the Ghiol whatever. No 
dcxsumenis or any other pa- 
pi^rs, save and except the 
ivarrants for those actually 
transferred to my custody. 



The chapel perfectly un- 
divided; the prisoners sat 
down indiscriminately- - 
debtors and felons together. 



N<n)ember, 182L 
as it can possibly be made, 
and the whole effected by 
the labour of the prboners 
themselves. 

Bibles,Testaments, Pray« 
er-books and religious tracts 
are now to be found in every 
ward of the Gaol, besides a 
quantity in store. 

Left with my successor 
a complete set of books and 
journals, the warrants and 
records of every person 
committed to and discharg- 
ed from the Gaol, during 
the whole of my keepership, 
classed, marked, and pro- 
perly arranged. 

At present the chapel is 
divided into as many com- 
partments as it will admit. 
The felons together; the 
women behind the felons^ 
parted off by a screen, so 
that they are invisible io 
the men : and as many ho-* 
nest members of society are, 
through mere misfortunes, 
thrown into a prison for 
debt, and to whose misery, 
the knowledge of their iea« 
tures by every felon, would 



qshpteh Yih 

h» Aft. aggraTaliotty I cob*- 

sidered it an act of proper 

attention to their feelings, 

to screen off the galleiy 

(bey sit in also. 

On mj tidcing charge* I heSi widi my successor, 

found about fiyp suits of besides an immense qiuniii^ 

prison clotbiogy and tbos^ ij of clothing and clolb, 

in wear ; sij^ty beds ; one the following articles, all of 

bundred and two blankets ; vbich eseepting a lEsw bed- 

sijU74wo rqgs ; Md fiftyi' steada aad some aid l^tselaa 

two bedsteads ; which tage^ of bedding, nasiifiieiared 

tber with all the fixtures of by the prisoneia ia Gaols 

|he Gaol at the tioie, migbt Beds ;......... Ifl9 

be rained in about .£170. Blankets 4S0 

Rugs 1S45 

which together with the fix- 
tures of the Gaol, were ap« 
praised and delivered to my 
successor, in the Value of 
^1550 128. 8rf. 
Prisonera were conveyed A caravan was construct- 
to and from the Assizes and ed (on my own plan) on 
Quarter Sessions (the near- springs, entirely enclcMsed, 
est town in which they are wherein the prisoners are 
held being eighteen miles defended both from weather 
distaat from the Gaol) in and the public eye. On 
open waggons, exposed to its being completed, I had 
all the inclemency of the another made on the same 
weather, and to the public model, in the Gaol, by thd 
gaj» ; and travelling at the prisoners themselves, and 
* rate 

4 



CHAFTBR ¥11. 



J^iy^ laoa. 

TBic of thiee fiiiles per hour. 



Every tradesman in II- 
cheater had an account 
qnaxterlj lo receive from 
the '€oantj) either for la* 
boor^ maleriab, or other 
joaatter connected with le- 
pairs of the GaoL 

The prisoners never ie« 
gulailjr supplied with clean 
lijaen*^ Sometimes it laras 
washed bjr a woman in the 
Gaol--^bttt most generally 
let out to people in the 
txmn* The County paid 
my predecessor, for wash* 
iog aind mending per week, 
for each prisoner, 4d[» — for 
each pair of blankets, 6J.— ^ 
for each bed amd bokter, 



some idea of their tttiUt|f»9 
li^tness, and strength may 
be conceived, from the facty 
that I have mysdf travelled 
on the bos of one of Ihemi 
seventy miles in a day* 
These I left with my su€»i 
cessor. 

For the last ten years no 
such account has ever been 
contracted ; every * tiling 
connected with building, 
repairing, or cleaning the 
Gaol, having been solely 
effected by pKisOii labour* * 

By the erection of a 
hwidry, and the introduce 
tion of female labour, all 
the bedding and lioen of 
the prisoners and the Elsta- 
Uisiunent, ijs now washed 
in GaoL Tlie aaving .thus 
effected^ will be shewn by 
the following statement : 
Paid for the soap 

and ashes, used 

in 12 weeks .... 4 18 



* I miut here except that of a blacksmith and glazier; those 
tradesmen are still employed from the town. It was considered 
dangerous to erect a forge within the Gaol, which of course excluded 
the introduction of that business. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Juhft 1808. iVoo«fN&er/l82L. 

M*^ for the Chaplain Vsur* 1 c wt. of coal, at 

plice, is. M. — ^Tbe sum SOd. per cwt 16 8 

paid oa this head alone, in Labour of 5 female 
twelve weeks, for fifly-four prisoners, for 7S 
prisoners, would be there- days, at one pen- 
fore as under, ny per day 1 10 

Washing & mend- Thread, for mend- 
ing, for 54 pri- ing, &c 

soners, at M. ,ZTZ — 

per week, for 

12 weeks W 16 being a saving to the Coan- 

54 bed and bol- ty of JE6 ]s. lOrf. in 12 

ster cases, at weeks, on the washing of 

M. ^ I 7 54 prisoners only. Since 

54 pair of blan- this introduction took place 

kets, at 6rf. .... 17 1 have bad as many as 866 

One surplice 2 6 prisoners in Gaol, at one 

, time: the saving to the 

Amduniing to £ia 12 6 County, therefore, for that 

number, amounted every 1 2 

and that too altowing a pri- weeks to «£dO 0*. IJrf. 
wooer clean bedding once It must be remembered, 
IB three months only. the above calculations are 

not speculative, but extract- 
ed specificaHy from the 
Gaol aecounls: the sums 
thus saved are amazing^ 
when it is remembered, that 
during the period typhus- 
fever raged in the Gaol, at 
least 240 blankets, and 120 
rugs and beds, were washed 
wcekjy. 



GRAFTER Vtl. 

Such 18 a brief contrast between the sCal^of Ikhei- 
ter Qaol ia Julj, 1808, and Noirember, 1881; and vrben 
it 18 considered that this great amelioration was effected 
solely by the, introduction of prison labour, at my own 
suggestion, and under my own superintendance, I con« 
ceive it to be impossible to fix a charge of neglect of duty 
upon ^e. 

The* majority of Magistrates forming the late Com* 
mittee, however, have b^n pleased to think differently ; 
and for the sake of contrasting their subsequent conduct 
with their o|)inion8, before the fear of Henry Hunt began 
to manifest itself. I shall make a few extracts from their 
own journal ; confining myself, however, to one or two 
in each year, and summing up the remaining number of 
their testimonials in mass. 

February IStky 1809. 
'f Visited the Gaol, and found the apartments per- 
fectly clean, and every thing regular. 

(Signed) William Haxnino.** 

This minute will prove the rapidity with which 
cleanliness and order was introduced, when the testimony 
contained therein is contrasted with the state of the Graol 
six months before : as described in the first chapter of 
this work. * 

JirfySl^ 1809. 

<^ Inspected the Gaol, and found every thing in 

perfect good order. 

William Hanning, 

R. T. Combe." 

* That is to say, there were seven composing the whole Com* 

mittee at the time they came to their decision, and three absent. 
Out of the seven, if my information be correct, ^foiwr voted in my 
favour r* An IrlsLiort of a majority this \ if the majority be said to 
be agaimi me. 



V 



CHAPTER ¥U. 

. The WBober of vioilB made by MagiBlsates, [and en- 
tries to the foKgoiiig effect lecovded, daring the year 
1809, were twenty-eight. 

Ma^ SI9 1810. 

<^ Visited and found all well. 

Aaron Mooot." 

Nainber of Yisits in 1810, twenty-three. 

Oeiifber U^ 1811. 
^ Visited the Graol^ and fonnd eFery thing itgnlar. 

William Hanniiig^ 
Aabok Moodt«" ' 

Number of visits in 181 1 , tilenty. 

April 99, 1818. 

^ Visited the Gad, and iimnd all tluiigs dean and 

well 

John Pablips.** 

Numbtf of visits in 1812, twenty-five. 

June 22, 1813. 

^' Visited and went round the Gaol, and saw the 

prisoners locked up. Found every thing very orderly 

and regular. 

R. T. Combe.*' 

Number of visits in 1813, thirty-seven. 

January 22, 1814. 
^ Visited and went over the Gaol, found all wdl, 
and free from complaint. 

Aaron Moody.'* 

Number of visits in 1814, thifty-five. 



CHAPTER VIL 

September 19^ 1815. 

<^ Went round the Gaol, and found all things clean 

andfegnkir. 

John Goodfoud^ 

R. T. WHAhhEx:* 
Number of visits in 1815^ fortj. 

February 20, 18!6. 
^' We vMted the Gaol, and notwithstanding the 
immense number of- prisoners, found them comfortably 
accommodated, in good health, and no CIHD]^wits : and 
the whole prison clean and in good order* 

Geobge Eow. Allek, 
Thomas Poole." 

October 10, 1816. 
^^ The 6aoI| iaftec ^:aininatian and inspection of the 
several cells, wards, ^ and other parts of the Graol, was 
found to be in a perfect state of neatness, good order^ 
and diBcipHne. 

J« ACLAND, 

Thomas Poole, 
Aaron Moodt, 
W. H. Colston, D.D. 
R, T. Whallbt, 
Edw. Bbodeaip, Under Sheriff, 
E. Coles, Clerk of the Peace/' 
NumbefT of visits in 1816, forty-six. 

March 14, 1817. 
^* Visited the Gaol, and found all correct and well ; 
and beg to acknowledge my thanks io the Governor for 
a great deal of useful information. 

Thomas Hele Phipps." 
Number of visits in 1817, twenty-seven. 



CHAPTER yif. 

June SO, 1818. 
<< Visited and inspected the Gaol, aad vme mocli 
pleased with the good order, deanliness, and general 
legohtions of it. The system of employment appeared 
to ns to be not only condacire to the happiness of the 
prisoner, but to lead to a general industry on their bei^g 
permitted again to enter into society. 

Richard Hart Datis^ 
Malachi Blake.*' 

Number of visits in 1818, thirty4wo. 

July2&9 1819. 

^^ Visited the Gaol, and found all things correct 

and clean. 

John Goodforo.*' 

. N umber of visits in 1 8 19, thirty^five* 

October 28, 1820. 

<< Visited the Gaol, and found all things clean and 

orderly. 

John Goodford, 

John Quantock, 

R. T. Whallby/* 

Number of visits in 1820,. thirty-thcee. 

June 96, 1821. 
*' Tisited the Gaol, and found it in good order. 

John Newman." 

Number of visits up to November 10, 1821, the 
day of my quitting the command, thirty-four. 

It may be very well asked here, how came it about, 
that so many visits should have been made by these M a« 
gistrates, without their discovering the great irregularis 



\ 



CHAPTBR VIL 

liesy charged on the GbxA by Henry Hnnt ? To thn 
quettion I can only reply^ that tubt n ETsia bxiiteo. 
It may be asked again, if they did not exist, why 
have the Magistrates dismissed you } I answer, I kuow 
not J unless their decision was actuated by fear or lore 
of Henry Hunt. 

The Committee however have placed themselves in 
a very awkward predicament. By dismissing me, they 
tacitly admit the charges of Henry Hunt to be true. If 
they be true, the very members of that Committee pass 
on themselves their own condemnation — for if such 
great cruelties, such glaring irregularities, positively did 
exist in Ilchester Gaol, every member of that Committee 
had been guilty of gross neglect of duty, in not having 
discovered them, and of gross mis-statements in their en- 
tries on their own journal. 

But I will not press this point upon them unneces* 
sarily. I shall by*and-by proceed to shew the measure 
and the mode of their conduct towards me ; not from 
mece logical deduction, but from the absolute written 
testimony of their own hands. 

Facts are stubborn things ; and although a Magis-r 
trate may swear to-day, that he never heard of the 
existence of a certain object, and amend that evidence 
to-morrow, on discovering be had made that object the 
substance of an order, under his own hand^ a few months 
before : it only proves to us, that even Magistrates are 
fallible men ; and that the decision of a Committee of 
such men, may be erroneous likewise. 

A decision, however, by which the character of an 
honest man is affected, is always dreadful ; but, if that 
decbion be caused by injustice, it becomes monstrous; 



CHAPTER ▼!!. 



and it is a balm to me, the asniraace, that if 1 had ap- 
pealed i^^aiBBl that decisian to the gieai bodjrofthe 
Magistrocy, it would have been set aside.* 



* Snch was the opinion of the Magistrates of the County; an 
anasnally large number having assembled at ihe Sessions, holden 
at Taimtoiiy in October last, cxpeeting that I should appeal agaioat 
the Report of the CommiClee ; which R^Kurt, bad I so appealed, 
I have been infoimed by a most respectable Magistiate tben preaent, 
would have been negatived by a great majority, and I should have 
been continued, or re*appointed in my service. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



CHAPTER Vm. 



Ji$tmptm qf the, Sff^tem of Diiseipli^e jmriuecf in I^lkHfif 

Gaol. 



JLn the foregoing chaptersi I hare biiefly 
narrated the rapidity with which labour and mannfactme 
were introduced into the Gaol, and the benefits that arose 
Iherefrom, both as related to the moral and domestic cha- 
rficter of the prisoner, and to the County itsdf. But, as 
it would be impossible to expect, that a gang of despe- 
ladoes, could be confined within small limits, witboqit 
occasional misbehaviour and disturbances, I shall pro- 
ceed to relate the mode which I adopted, to secure their 
good behaviour ; or to inflict proper punishmeirt, when 
they became refractory. 

I kwe flirty stated, that op my first ap{V>intment 
to the keepership, I suggested to the Magistrates, the 
TpwpiAuy of my keeping a Joomal, or daily Occiiiren^e 
Book. My olject in so doing was two«fdd-— I bad tlye 
defiiie to lay be^re tfaem, a perfect hiatofy cf events, fit 
^9fih period of theur visiting ; thereby to elicit promptly, 
their approval or disapproval, of whatever I might have 
done^ or be doing ; and, likewise to put t^em in posses- 
sion of every act of punishp^pt I .o^^ig^t J/^je had jto 



CHAPTER VIII. 

inflict, and hand the ofiender over to their own examina* 
tion and judgment. I was the more particularly anxioiw 
on this latter head, because 1 knew the impossibility 
of governing such an Establishment, without a system of 
rewards and punishments; and because I knew, how 
subject the keepers of prisons are to vituperative abase, 
invidious remarks, and unfounded charges : and I doubt- 
ed not to be able to escape this, the common lot of Gaol- 
ers, iff could succeed in causing every necessary punish- 
ment, to arise from the act of the Magistrates alone. At 
all events, I was determined no such punishment should 
take place without their knowledge and approval. 

I cannot better illustrate this system, than by ex- 
tracting from my Occcurrence Book, a few prominent 
circumstances, which may tend to shew the nature of 
the people I had to govern, the anxious and unremitting 
care necessary to preserve order, and the frequency 
with which it was imperious to resort to coercive mea- 
sures, in order to protect the quiet and well-disposed 
prisoner from the insult or depredations of those more 
-hardened and desperate. 

[Occarreaoe Book.] 

Mmdayy Nov. S8, 1808. 

" Locked Jane Prowles* in her cell, for having on 

a petticoat, made out of a blanket, (Gaol property,) a 

pair of pockets, made out of county cloth, and a bed- 

' tick sewed within the petticoat, all the property^of th<s 

county, all of which was immediately put into a bag. 



* One of the honest hard-working people spoken of in the peti- 
tion presented to the House by Sir F. Burdett, in Dec. 1812; she 
WAS then called Elizabeth Lorell. 



OHAPTER TlII^ 

and a seal set thereon. Aaron Moody, esq. visited, and 
Qidered that Jane Prowles be continned in close confine- 
ment." 

Wednesday^ Nav» 30, 1808. 

^^ Sent second turnkey to Aaron Moody, esq. 
(visiting Magistrate) to be informed how long Jane 
Prowles shall continue in. close confinement, or what 
further proceedings should be adopted. Received a 
note per answer, ordering a week's further confinement.'* 

Monday^ March 90y 1809. 

*< James Gnmm, John Sperring, and John Horder, 
made a complaint against Robert Haines,* for committing 
divers petty thefts, which being proved, and some of the 
articles, viz. a shilling, a piece of soap, and a pair of 
stockings found in his cell, and proved to be the property 
of the complainants, he, the said Robert Haines, is put 
in irons and confined to his cell, until the pleasure of 
the visiting Magistrates be known." 

Friday y March 2iy 1809. 

^^Aaron Moody, esq. visited, and had Haines brought 
before him, who, on promising to amend his conduct, is 
permitted his usual liberties." 

Ttiesdayy January 23, 1810. 

^^ Visited Mary Fuller, a convicf, in her sleeping- 
room, at seven o'clock p. m. she being then in a convuI« 
sive fit, and on approaching near the door, heard Sarah 

* Robbed the Gaol on leaving it, was convicted of the ofieof e, 
he came ^ain and wai transported. 



Mide,iBUfM!herCDBVidt iteephiK in fhe mtiltttait^ wf^ 
^ht dttttned tf shewdiild getoiit«€lierbed any nkiie 
to-night :' mwming that she would not assist to hdUL 
Fnller, who was then beating her bead against the bed- 
aiead. Ordered, that Sbide be kept to hard labour ia 
idtttaiy conincment, by having paik of water and scmb- 
1>ing iMmshes supplied her, and that she continue to deaft 
the rooms and staircases ra the ward she at present ii»- 
ImfailB untd further orderii." 

. Monday^ February Sj 1810. 

^< The Rev. W. U. Odston tisited and inspected 
the Oid, and ordeied that Sarah Shde be restMed to 
the accustomed libertiea df her tvard, she haying jpm- 
nlised to conduct henelf better for the future/* 

Friday y Ifovemher ij ISlI* 

^^ The females ia the convict ward, having altoge- 
ther neglected to clean their ward and the rooms theiein, 
are 4U sent to their cells at half-past three p. m. being 
first severely reprimanded for their, slothful and dis- 
orderly conduct.*' 

Saturiay^ November S, 18H. 

^< The feikudes )ue all restored to their ward, <widi 
the exception of four,) on condition of their being more 
attentive to cleanliness in future, at eight a, m. The re- 
maining four continued in confinement in consequence of 
gross misconduct." 

Monday J NaMnher Ai^ 1811. 

<^ Aaron Moody, esq. visited dnd inspected the 
'Gaol, and penhitled Jane Catr, Bufh'Creed, "Ellssabeih 
Fleming, and Eliaftibeth Williams, to be restored, they 
having severally promised'to behave better in future." 



SMurdtt^^ Febmaty 6, IftiB. 

"^ A 'AiiAxdicld'conspintej, mtaongst niiMleeti tiF the 
prisontin, ii6 murder ihe ^b a kiiife titid 'effect tbeic 
escape, being discovered throagh the medium of Robt. 
Harvey, the &ad ilartey d^Kises ^6 i!he ^circumstances 
'before Aittoa Moodjj ^eaq. "vHio direets 'George Groves* 
'and TliosittB '66odi, two of the riogleadere, to be put in 
wditany ckmfiiienietit, and thdre 4ept, witfaaat the pbircr 
df corriispdndiiig <«ri<!h, or sedng *9kij of the ^otier pri- 
-^Mels, until fimhefr'orders/' 

Thursdatfy FeUbruary 13, 1812. 

^^ Aaron Moodj and William flanniii^/esiq|fs. TMt« 
ed and ina|>bb(ed-the iSaoI, andolade '^Aittlier enquiries 
into ibe conspiracy ; and ordered that Groves be restored 
io-the liberty of his ward, but that Good be continued 
in dose confinement." 

This man was kept closely confined -until Saturday, 
May S3, when he was removed, with other convicta^ to 
the Captivil^y HuUi| at Portsmouth. 

Sdturdapj JulpSy 1813. 

<^ Jonathan Spencer, having conducted himself veijr 
disorderly, made use of violent and outrageous language 
to the taskmaster, and been guilty otherwise of very im- 
proper conduct, is locked' up m lis 6elL^ 

Thursday y July 8, 1813. 

« R. T. Combe, Aaron Moody, and G. E. Allen, 
csqrs. together^ith the Rev. Dr. Colston, visit the Gaol, 



• This was the celebrated " Captain trroves,** so well-known 
iH'ihb paiiieQs of B^th and Bristol. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

and directed Jonathan Spencer* to be continued in 

litary confinement ; in which he was kept until Saturday 

the lOlh, when his sentence of imprisonment expired.'' 

Tuesday^ November IS, 1814. 

<^ Francis Warden, one of the shoemakers, haying 
cut up and purloined a quantity of the County leather ; 
and haying made a yiolent personal attack on me, 
when I attempted to take from him the property he 
had stolen, I immediately ordered him into solitary coO" 
finement/' 

[Magistrates' JonrnaJ.] 

Wednesiayy November 16, 1814* 

^^ We yisited the Gaol, and found Warden hand- 
cuffed, and in solitary confinement, for resisting Mr. 
Bridle by force. We ordered him to be continued ; but 
directed Mr. Bridle to[unhandcufif him in the eyening, as 
his own act.^' 

W. DicKiNSOir, 
R. T. Whallbt." 

[Oocnrrence Book.] 

Saturday J November 19, 1814. 

** Rev. R. T. Whalley yisited the Gaol, and releas- 
ed Warden from solitary confinement.^ 



i> 



[Magistrates^ Journal.] 

Monday y November 28, 1814. 

<^ The under-mentioned Magistrates haying investi- 
gated a complaint made to them by Francis Warden, who 
was placed in solitary confinement, for riotous conduct^ 



CHAPTER VIII. 

by Mr. Bridle, have expressed themselves in the foUoif- 
ing manner : ^ That the Magistrates on hearing the case, 
and what he, the prisoner, had to say for himself, are of 
opinion that he hath behaved ill, and hath forfeited all 
claim to indulgence. That Mr. Bridle hath done no 
more than was necessary to support authority, and they 
are of opinion that the said Francis Warden hath not 
made out any case of ill-usage on the part of Mr. 
Bridle, and they are further of opinion that the com- 
plaint be dismissed.' 

(Signed) J. Acland, 

W. DiCKINSOK, 
R. T. WflALLEY." 

[Occurrence Book.] 

Monday y March 6, 1815. 

'< William Watts and James Watts being found 
gambling, riotous, and disorderly, are severally confined 
to their respective cells." 

Tuesday^ March 7^ 1815. 

<^ Aaron Moody, esq. visited the Gaol, and on the 
two Watts's promising to behave better in future,, they 
are released from solitary confinement. 

Saturday f January S7y 1816. 
" Committed Joseph Evans* to a solitary cell, in 
consequence of having cut and spoiled a piece of kersey- 
mere, the property of John Pratt, a fellow prisoner. — 



* Once escaped from the Hulks, once from Botany Bay, after 
which he served two years and six months in llchester Gaol, the 
last six months being for an offence committed in the Gaol. 



HoappeMs inthit oase^ to hme bpea adsatodby revtsge^ 
VI «al]0cq^ellce of Pfatt hanng fixmorlj complained of 
Ui auusooBdact.'' 

Thursday^ JSkbruary 90, I8I0. 

^ Joseph Evans— Ordered that be be continued in 
his present solitary confinement ; his recent conduct hay- 
ing highly merited it, and that he be supplied with woirk 
there. 

Signed by the Clerk of the Peace for the Court of 
Quarter Sessions, held at the Gaol on the abovB day J 



99 



Thuriday, April 18, 1816* 

<< At the General Quarter Sessij^ps, held this day at 
the Qaol^ Joseph Evans applied to be released irom soli- 
tary confinement, which the Justices did not think pro- 
per to comply with, in consequence of his former mis- 
conduct on many occasions. 



Signed la behidf of Ae Coait by 

CoL^s, Cl^rk of the Peace. 



»^ 



{Oocnrrence Book.] 

Tuesday, May 7, 1816. 

** Rev. R. T. Whalley visited and inspected the 
Gaol, ordej:ed Joseph Evans to be released froQi }iis so- 
litary confinement, with i^ suitable rebuke that he I^ 
careful of his futme conduct. 

Saturday^ July 5, 1817. 

^ John Quantodc, esq. visited and inspected the 
Gaol. Put John Tilley, of the felons' ward, into solitary 

confinement. 



J 



CHAPTER VIIL 



confinement^ b;^ oid^ of the yisi^in^ ipaj^J^trates, for be- 
ing a wicked and disorderly bo}r. Handcuffed Joseph 
GuUiford and George Britten* together, fbf fighting in 



the convict ward.^ 



•. .J 



flun^, Jvf,y 6, 1817. 

^^ Q:^![ge ^i^i^JipQ hfiying be^^^n o^ the fuff that 
confined h\m to Qullifbrd, I put a pair of strong Jrons 
on him, and both his hands in cufiis; released G^^IJiiford 
on promise of future good behaviour." 

^  V 

7%«r«^, /irfjf 10, 1817. 

^^ 4 f9m^\ ^ WW i^ thi^ day held ffl f^e ^^^ : 
;P»W?«t3i '^o^a Goodfpid, A^j^spn ?^pody, Jo^n New,?^, 
and John Quantock, ei^^, ^4^?^^ Cqfes^ ^\^K 9^ ^^ 
J^eace,. and Joseph {^pveU ^ovelU for the Sheriffs. 

. /'^ (reorge JBr^toi^l a prisoner now handcuffed, ow- 
ing to misconduct in the Gaol, having expressed contri- 
tion for it, ^1^ ppro|Q|siQ|g 1f» bjpbax^ p^rly in future, 
l^r^flfre^^ 'tbffi the Governor do remo^ve tl^ cufi^ ifhunor-^ 
.rowmorniugu at ten o'clock. 

. Sijgne4 fo^ the. Cou rt, 

Coles, Clerkof the Peace.** 

. [Ooeurrenee Book.] 

Sfitturdajfj^ September 19, 1818. 

** Put Daniel Finassjj^ and Wm. Clatyorthj into 
solitary confinement, for making a great noise and fight- 
ing in the felons' ward." 

— ' ■'■ I   .. I  I 111 I  «»  

* Came a second time, and waif then imnspof ted. 



CHAPTER Tin. 

liaiuk^y September 81, l818f. 

«< The Rev. E, T.Whalley visited, and ordered tbat 
Daniel Fioassy and Wm. Clatwonfay be released fkcm 
aolitarjr coofiueinent to-morrow evening." 

Wednesdayf March 17, 1819. 

*' Locked up Charles Flower* in solitary confine- 
menti for interrupting and abusing the constable of his 
ward.'' 

[Magiitntas* Jonnuil.] 

nursday^ March 18, 1819. 

** Ordered, that Charles Flower be continued in 
solitary confinement, for misbehaviour in theG6venKn:'8 
absence. Ordered, that Robert King be continued 'fia 
irons, for misconducting himself.' 

(Signed) John Quantock, jun. esq. 

Rev. R. T, Whallby." 

Wednesday^ May 19, 1819.' - 

« Aaron Moody, esq, visited and inspected (he Gaol, 
and ordered Charles Flower to be released from solitary 
confinement, oq promise of future gckxl behaviour^*' 



Thursday^ May 18, 1890. 

«< Visited the Graol, ordered a boy, of the name of 
Wheeler ^^ a convict for two years' hard labour, who had 
been guilty of a disturbance of fighting with another 



* Committed a second time, and was then transported, 
t His father capitally convicted and transported for foarteen 
years; his grandfather also transported \ and his yonng brother twieo 
III 6ao}| wmI once whipped. 



CHAPTSR VIIL 

boy, to be confined in a separate cell, till he shall amend 
his behavioar: and approved of Mr. Bridle's confining 
the legs of snch bojrs as shall be disorderly in their 
workshops. 

(Signed) Johv Phblips/ esq**' 

My readers will perceiye that I have merdy ex* 
Iracted one occurrence in each year ; I have made no 
selection of cases, bat merely taken the first that presented 
itself, as a specimen of the regularity with which all 
punishments inflicted were made known to the visiting 
Magistrates immediately on their arrival. Every circum- 
stance of the kind was entered in my Occurrence Book 
directly it look place, and to this Occurrence Book, 
Magistiates, on their visits^ were immediately referred. 

It may naturally be supposed, that a population, 
sometimes amounting to 266 persons, composed of the 
most desperate characters that infest society, requires 
some strictness, some vigilance, and great promptitude, 
to keep them in any thing approaching to quietness and 
Older* I feel quite conscious that promptitude and vigi- 
lance were never wanting, yet to preserve undisturbed 
order was impossible. Punishments by solitary confine- 
ment, by ironing, by handcuffing, &c. were consequently 
frequent; remembering, however, that the latter mode 
was never resorted to, except in cases where great violence 
bad been used by the prisoner, or by the express order 
of the Magktrate. « ' 



* Thifl gentleman wan Hant'i first witnew; and he- swore 
he did not know of any stocks being in the GaoL nntil the inqniry, 
although Mr. Phelips had the stocks hronghi into the room /or his 
inspection, before he made the order. 



i^t/ftWelbi^, '%liUng, ^ievibg, and insblebo^ (oitie 

^{lEIcers^ Vere the itost fi^eque'nt crim^ ; and as they weife 

'all jprbnij(>tlj puni^h^y Wihe prisoners, genifaHyspeak- 

ingy i¥ere orderly and well disposed. I have had occa- 

s'^'n to remart^y'tliat l^ose wh^ repeatedly broke through 

the Gaol regolations, were men of the most despefate and 

•ttbandonsd dmimcfer : aiefiiwhobdoaneii^comtitftted to 

<lir]86D, almost lis^ sooof. as they might 1)e dischaigld^ and 

. wbose nltinilite 'Arte, wais kuie to bbcitiier trannportdidn 

 or tbe galloVrs. I hafve a few liiUances 0f snch tfffefidetB, 

who after'^soaping d^ath here, hate bete extentoA in'tbe 

- Colony i>fNfew. South Wciles aftei^rd»;. thelcby prMr- 

.Sag thetnaehes idredainiaUe 3 indaed bn siiah'c^anMlmi 

, lenity is Ihnxwn'^iiway. 

I ahall n&Wy bdweyer^ extract a few oocimiaiicelbf 

, 'pilnibbment iti the 'year 1821, the last of ngr.tgoVemor* 

• Aip ; in order tp shew hoW entirely the. faee of affisnoes 

< had becQme chaiiged* At this time, in 'fact, ihe Gaol 

%a8 -in a state of ahaichy; <^ Henry Himt^' was the ay^ 

Tom Paine ' (insidaously distribdted amongst :tbem)4he 

siibstitute for the bible, and* disobedienc^^d conflwMi 

the order of the day. ... 

. • • ■» 

Monday, Apra SO, 1821. 

» 

^< The; Governor returned from the Sessions, at 7 

P. m. haying received information, that the. cpnvicta in- 
tended to make themselves masters of the GaoU" 



"  n 



"^ * I regret dxat I 'cannot giVe, Verliatim, the eomplaints laid 
agiUnst many of tbe prisoners, frotn the natnte of the blaiphenioma 
4nd horrid expressions, ihey had ftoti? got into tUe'habH of nslng 
towards the olBeers. ^ 



L 



01 









Satutiayy August 18, l«2t. 
« The turnkey, Pike, reports the felons' irwd to b6 
in gteat riot and confasion ; that Heath and Russell, two 
prisciaers therein, had been %htlng, who, for the peace 
of the ward, he removed into lh% passage, where Russell 
immediately renews the combat, swearing be would kill 
7 his opponent. I order^ Heath again to be sent into 

)kis W|rd, and Russell, witli his handcuffs, into solitarjr 
confinement/' 

K \ Sunday y August 19, 182 h 

^ , ^ ^<In consequence of some alarming ihtelligence, 
. contmiinicated frcnn the felons' ward this morning, the 
GroyenxMr has placed a watchman, to parade the front 
c^mrt by night, until further orders." 

7hb conspiracy was indeed alarming, and to such 
fi ' ^ pitch had the ea;ample of the High Priest of Riot^ in 
. ^ creating tumult and insubordination, now arrived, that 
^ I have great reason to believe, this very conspiracy, was 
' suggested by a well known character, a vagabond, pet- 
, UfQgjgetf andoneof his satellites. I addressed the Un- 
der-Sheriff, however, on the occasion ; and by great 
promptitude and vigilance, the felons were prevented 
from carrying it intpezecution« -Their plan was, to de- 
mand to be released from their irons, attack the officers 
in chapel, and to break Gaol. The Under- Sheriff, how- 
, ever, immediately visited ; committed some of them to 
solitary confinement; and applied to the Secretary of 
^tate, for the removal of others to the- Hulks : on which 
application, twenty-nine of the most desperate, were re- 
moved accordingly. 



abitrf' 



In the appendix, m&rked D, will be found the to- 
pics of the papers sent me by one of their own body. 



CHAPTER VW. 

disclosingf the particulais of the oonspinicy ; and wliicb 
yerj papers, .were laid before the Under-Sheriff, at tbe 
lime he iarestigated the matter. 

[OccQirence Book.] 

Tuesday J August 14, 1821. 

^< John Southerwood's sentence having expired, he 
is discharged at 8 a. m. At half-past nine, John Soather- 
wood came to the Gaol, as a visiter to Henry Huot — in 
the mean time, information is received, that Samuel 
Ht)dge8, a person discharged from Gaol on Sunday last, 
is still loitering in the town, with two large bundles; and 
from certain other information, it is ascertained, that 
these bundles contained county property, istolen from the 
Gaol: I procure this man to be sent* for; who comes 
down, leaving his bundles without the Gaol ; he remain- 
ed in the Lodge until Southerwood terminafeis his risit to 
Hunt, afid they both leave together ; each taking one of 
the said bundles : I then cause them to be stopped, and 
finding the bundles absolutely to contain county proper- 
' ij^ stolen from the Gaol, 1 give them into the charge of 
^ a constable, who takes them before Aaron Moody, esq. 
for examination. On investigating the matter, he causes 
them both to be committed to the Gaol, to take their trial 
at the Assizes, aiid binds me over to prosecute th^m." — 
The fact of this theft was, that John Southerwood stole 
the property, and threw it over the wall in the night* 
time, to be picked up by Hodges : but as he had the 
honour of being reckoned among the friends of Henry 

Hunt,* a law officer is provided for him by the orator, 

\ 

* The orator, I believe, was exceedingly enraged at the circnm- 
> vtaoee of one of hU crnnk^ being thm in^Ucatod in a thefi, imme- 
diately on hiv qa|ttiiig Craol. 



CHAPTER Vlth 

knd in conseqn^ce of a defect ia the evidenoe^ the bill 
against him was thrown out. Hodges, however, on re« 
ceiving his sentence to be transported, for his share of 
the business, murmured much, and declared Souther- 
wood to be the thief, and he himself the mere receiver. 
It is useless for me now, however, to enter farther 
into detail of the great irregularity, anarchy, and con« 
fusion that at this time prevailed in the Gaol ; the en^es 
in my Occurrence. Book on this subject, therefore, I 
shall defer until I enter fully into my defence, and the 
iilvestigation of the evidence. Suffice it to say, that I had 
no power of controul, that the major-part 6f my officer^ 
were paralyzed in the execution of their duty by mere 
fear of Hunt, or by a worse feeling ; and Henry Htint, 
indeed, spoke truth, once in his life, when he asserted 
that IIchester'Gaol was under his management, and that 
' if he chose to order prisoners, under sentence of death, to 
be brought into his ward, from their condemned cells^ 
the order must be obeyed. In fact, increase of offence 
and irregularity were not the only evils ; infidelity and 
irreligion rapidly increased. Tom Paine's Works had 
been assiduously introduced, even into the upper debtors 
ward, and the general topics of conversation were' now, 
either scepticisms on the bible, reflections on the state, 
or infuriated debates, and cries of radicalism for ever ! It 
may be remarked, however, that these circumstances had 
their birth from the first moment unlimited communica- 
tion was commanded to be permitted by the High Sheriff^ 
between Henry Hunt and all other classes of prisoners ;* 

^ ^n Mr. Bridlr. ^ 
Governor qfllcheaier Gaol. S DilUngton, April 10, 1821. 

** Sir, 

^ To render eqnal Jnitice io yon and ibe County, eaeb 

Wing now acoosed, by Mr* Hani, of abofes in tho Gaol, I haro 



]u^.iipt incr«9?ed tp.iIl8llnno|^l|tab^i^^ 

I havc>^ by the foregoiinj ep^(}t of ^ ppciinrci^cc 
0f e%fih yesft of my goyerQmefi|t« end^ayoured to shew 
the n^uu^er ia which aU pumahment;^ w^ie^ c^i^diicte^* 
^M)d thepro^iptitade with which. thejr were rn^^e knowa 
i^ t|ie yisiting Magistrates^ ia order to (a^e the responai- 
liility off my oi^u hapds ; and prociire ako. their apj^jfoyi^ 
0r 'diao^prpYid of my conduct. It is .gratifyyig tp ipp 
jto reflect, howci^ei^i that up to thepery)d of my quitting 
iho Gapl^ o;Uy pd^. eatry ht^d been made by the H^^ 
traties ii^ their Joqroal^ expre^i^g ^ny thing liJjL^ disap.- 
pjCol^tioPf. wd that arosp from, the dirtiness s^id to exut 
in some pan of the I^uilUing. |t so happenei^ th^t at 
that yery time I had |)eeo^ absent from the Gaol twelve 
JlflffS; qjK duj^i and had but joist returned. The. paper 
marked E., in the Appendix,^ will explain this curi^iis 
cifciiimstancei an4 may» perhaps, serve to shew iome 
jp^linupse of the injustice I have suffered. A secret enemy 
libels me to a Justice;^ and that Justice, io revenge, en- 
deavours tp throw a slur upon my conduct in my. official 
opacity. 

r 

ipfimjf^i i\ ^gfii to wdta Mr. Hunt, ^UiiifSt ^t I ahould ^ta ap 
fif&fij for any ppsonen, within yonr pustody^ not exceeding two at 
pDO time, to be permitted to be examined by him, either in his 
foom, or the viaiting^room, as to the charges he has alledged ; luid 
this attention, to his request in writing, I request may be attended 
to. 

I am, SiSj^yonrH obediently, 

Wm. Banning.^* 

This precious order continued in force until the 27th of July. 
^Debtors, felons, convicts, dc. dc. meeting indiscriminately, to be 
piopaied for this honest and wise examination. 

... Tji^ 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The general modes of encouraging prisoners in the 
correct performance of their duty, besides paying them 
ft certain proportion of their earnings, were, by present- 
ing them with money on their discharge, recommending 
them to situations, giving theni articles of clothing, ap- 
plying for remissions of their sentences, &c* The latter 
'boon was found the most powerful ; and I have gre^t 
pleasure in recording, that between the years 1813 and 
1821, twenty-six were found to merit such an indulgence, 
and received it, (Appendix F.) I might mention here, 
also, the great advantage enjoyed by the prisoners in the 
acquirement of trades, an advantage by which many of 
them honestly support themselves to this day ^ but as I 
have already dilated on this subject in my fifth and sixth 
chapters, I shall content myiself by adding, that althoujgh 
vice and irregularity never failed to meet with their due 
punishment in the Gaol at Uchester, virtue and good 
conduct ever met with their reward. 

I shall conclude this chapter, by stating, that be. 
tween July, 1808, and November, 1821, 4533 prisoners, 
of all classes, were confined under my care ; that out of 
this number, I conveyed* 567 to the Hulks, at Ports* 

* When convicts are removed from Newgate to Portsmouth, 
the D amber is generally twenty-five, a military escort is provided, 
and it accompanies the caravan until the charge is safely delivered, 
I have frequently removed six or eight at a time without any 
assistance. I was once traveUing with twenty-two, we stopped 
and took breakfast at a lone house, (the Shoe, at Plaitford) during 
which time they sat by the kitchen fire, on leaving the house I 
treated them with a walk, a full mile. The present Governor of 
Bristol Gaol was there with convicts ; they were not trusted out of 
their coach, and on my moving my men forward, he, with amaze- 
ment, exclaimed, " I had less trouble with my twenty-two men, 
than he had with the least of his boys/^ I had two assistants. 



I 

I' 



'l 



1^ 



CMAmSR VUl. 



moxAhf Wool wick, and Chatham, and to the King's- 
I Bench Prison, in London : that I never lost baft one pri* 

" toner, ivhich circumstance iviil he found fully described^ 

t in appendix G : that I rode with prisoners the number of 

miles, Bientioned in the paper, appendix H, merely to 
and from the Gaol, to Quarter Sessions and Assizes ; and 
performed all such- journies, without let or accident : 
that in the course of my goyernance, repeated attempts 
at suicide were made, and the whole frustrated ; repeat- 
ed attempts to break Gaol, and the whole prevented ; 
tepeated conspiracies, of the most dangerous nature, 
entered into by the prisoners, and ^11 discovered and 
averted ; and I leave it to the candid reader, on this 
brief view, whether I have, or have not, faithfully and 
dUigenlly performed my duty. 



CHAPTER IX. 



Jhicriptwn aj the Slate of tile Gttoi, dmring the Time if 
was afflicted with TVpAnf Fever, in the Years 1817 and 
181S. 



I CANNOT lend this, tlie fint part of 07 
woik, into the ^orld, wttbomt attempting to shew IIm 
itate of difficultj and danger to whidi I nvaft reduced, 
when tbe typhas fever crept into the Gaol. A cont.a|gpus 
disease is at all times, and under the most fiivourabte cir- 
cnmstances, dreadful ; but, when it bursts forth in a spot, 
where numbers are confined, where an immense popufaw 
tion is crowded into a small space, where verttilation, and 
erery other means, necessary lo check its progress, are 
limited, and where it is imperious to combine the safe 
esstody of the afflicted, with the means of curing them 
— a combination as difficult as it is trying — it beconiea 
appalling. The fever had existed in the neighbourhood, 
about six months, and in the town itself, perhaps three, 
before it made its appearance within the precincts of the 
Gad; how it introduced itself, I am at a loss to determine, 
but I incline to suppose, by the constant intercourse kept 
up between the prisoners, and those of their friends, who 
daily came to yisit them. The first case that pieseoted 



CHAPTER IX. 

itself, was on the 19th of January, 1817, in the felons' 
ward. — A few days after, the contagion extended to the 
debtors' ward, and from this period,' its progress became 
alarming. 

To counteract its influence, was a subject of mo- 
mentous consideration; but from the present crowded 
state of the Gaol, containing two hundred and forty in- 
mates, the task appeared to be almost impossible* Every 
thing, however, that human ingenuity could devise, or 
medical knowledge suggest, was called into play. Fu- 
migations, in every part of the Gaol, were constantly 
kept upa the day rooms being fumigated at night, and 
the sleeping rooms by day. Every article of clothing 
was fumigated in the same manner, vestments at night, 
and bedding by day. AUthose prisoners, who remained 
as' yet uninfected, were daily bathed in tepid water, 
wherein had been dissolved a quantity of bay salt; and 
the strictest attentioki was constantly paid, both to the sick 
and to the healthy. 

The contagion, however, still increased, and I con- 
sequently felt it my duty, to report the matter to the 
Chairman of the Quarter Sessions. He directed me to 
lay the state of the Gaol, before the High Sheriff^ I 
waited accordingly on that gentleman, at Clifton, who 
referred me to the Under Sheriff. With him, it was 
decided, (in consequence of the directions I brought 
with me from the Sheriff,) that we should with all possi- 
ble speed, report the immediate state of the Gaol, to the 
Judges, then on their circuit, at Exeter. This measure 
was considered necessary, in order to take the opinion of 
their Lordships, as to the propriety of bringing an in<« 
fected population of a Gaol, into a crowded Court of 
Justice. 



CHAPTER :IX. 

la pursuance of this direction, the .Under SJiefiff 
•and myself went to. Exeter, and laid the matter before 
Lord Chief Justice Abbot and his brother Judge ; when 
their Lordships were pleased to order, that a daily report 
be made to the Home Secretary of State,: and a house 
of recovery immediately procured, at a distance from 
4he Gaol, to which the infected were to be instantanef* 
ously removed. . 

In the mean time, the manufactory had been sus- 
pended, and fitted up as an hospital ; but to describe the 
increase of duty that fell upon my hands, and the intense 
anxiety with which I was filled, is impossible. The 
difficulty to procure a house of recovery may. easily be 
•conceived, every man naturally feeling anxious to keep 
what they considered a plague, from their, own doors* 
*We were avoided, shunned, and cut off from all society ; 
and even at an inn at Taunton, where I had been in the 
habit of stopping ten years, I was refused admission. . At 
length we succeeded in procuring a cottage at Lyming- 
ton, a village situated about a mile from the Gaol, to 
which on the 2nd of April, we removed seventeen infect- 
ed prisoners, of all descriptions, and of both sexes. The 
safe custody of those prisoners, being a matter of great 
importance, was provided for by the hiring of people 
for the purpose ; in which we found also great difficulty. 
This house was kept in possession twelve months, and 
bad at one time, twenty-three inmates, of both sexes ; 
all of whom had been committed for serious offences. 
By great care, howeVer, every attempt at escape from 
thence, was prevented. 

The increase of duty arising from this visitation was 
amazing. Besides the attention necessary to the house 
of recovery, the inmates of the Gaol itself were daily 



CHAPTBR U. 

taken oat into as adjoining ground^ in patties of lliirty er 
fady at a time^ for the benefit of exercise and firee irenifls- 
taoiu So alamied were all the debtors^ that every one of 
tJwm wboconld afford to procaioa writ of HabeatCorpw^ 
apfAied for remoral to London ; and some idea of the 
iinwillingnets of every one to admit m into their honaes, 
laay be gathered from the fact, that on my having to le* 
move certain convicts to the bulks, I was obliged to 
start at two o'clock in the rooming, in order to deliver 
them the same day ; well-knowii^ no one wbokl permit 
us a night's iodginj^» In feet, it was altogether mftiaed usk 
The removal, however, of convicts, from the infifiet^ 
ed state of the Gaol, became suspended, the popalirtum 
conseqaently increased, and shortly anoomated to 2fi& 
The state of the Gaol was now distressing, as many as 
sixty -seven persons being confined in a ward,* nol calcit- 
Ued tocontain more than twenty. This was an diurmiiig 
evil t and it became imperious to lessen the popialalioeb 
To efiect it, appeared at first impossible. Govemmeat 
were natamlly anxious io prevent a conti^ioas fever 
from beii^ introdneed into Hulks crowded with prison- 
ers ; and the Magistrates of the County were still increase 
i0g the inmates of the Gaol, by fresh comaniUiients» At 
length Sit J. P. Acland succeeded in procuring (nders 
from his Majesty's Grovernment, for tbe fitting up aa 
extra vessel at Portsmouth, on purpose io receive tiiem, 
and, as soon after as possible, we cleared the Gaol erf* that 
class of prisoners sentenced to transportation* We could 
now breathe a little freer, and from this period we could 
entertain something like hope of putting a stop to Ae 
contagion. 



It is to be rememberiBd. that this was the state of the Gaol in 1B171 



V 



CHAPTER U« 

I most g0 back a little, however, aod shew ibe dan- 
fer and difficulty to which I was further exposed. lit 
the spring assises of 1817, 1 bad to remove from the 
Gaol, eighty-five prisoners for trial at Taunton, whither 
I removed them in one day. Eighty of these mab 
feloiis, and absolutely occupying a ward, ha?tng twenty^ 
six cells, and intended for the occupation of tweniif^Hst 
people only I This may serve to shew the crowded stale 
of the Gaol at that time. 

The fever, however, being amongst thero^ it was 
neither safe or proper to introduce them into the Gaol at 
TauDton, and it became necessary, ihercfore, to procure 
a house for their reception. To efiect this we met widl 
great difficulty, the pa>ple idisolutely threatening to rase 
any house to the ground we might chance to reside in, so 
fptsX was their dread of the contagion spveadmg. At 
leugth aft unfinished house in the fields, nearly two raiki 
from the towD, was procnred, and to it I cooducled my 
charge, and took up my residence amongst ^em. My 
situation here, during the assizes, may be conceived, but 
c^oot be described ; (daced ia a looe house, and sleeps 
log on the same floor, with dghty-five desperadoes is no 
mviaUe situation ; but they had all been objects of my 
atteatioa and care, and on their gratitude I relied. The 
characters of these men may be conceived from the fact 
that I brought home, from this assize, thirty*one under 
sentence of death, five of whom actually suffered, twenty- 
one for transportation, and sixteen others under various 
sentences. The duties I had to perform at that house 
were severe and complex. No prisoner being suffered 
to go into Court, until he had been bathed in warm 
water and salt, his linen changed, his clothes fumigated; 
und this routine evoy man, individually, went througli 
daily. 






dBAPTER IX.' 

' The means necessary to destroy the infection within 
the Gaol, were also continually and actively pursued. As 
soon as the prisoners quitted their cells in the morniilg^^ 
a pitch-pot, or a pan of newly slacked lime, was intro- 
duced into each, and on their removal, the celb were 
fumigated with nitrous acid gas. The prisoners were all 
bathed every morning in warm water and salt. Military 
slop clothing was purchased in abundance, to give us 
the power of supplying fresh and clean clothes dail^, if 
required. Thechangesofbedding were, also, numerous; 
nearly one hundred and twenty weekly. Some idea of 
the care taken in this respect may be conceived by the 
fact, that one individual was supplied with nineteen 
changes of blankets, and nearly as maiiy of linen, in one 
week alone. 

At length, however, by the blessing of the Almighty, 
and the active and energetic uses of the means I have 
briefly attempted to set forth, the contagion was checked 
and ultimately destroyed. During its continuance, sixty 
marked and confirmed cases of typhus presenteil them- 
selves, besides a great number of slight infections, out 
of which two oilly died. When it is remembered, that 
the average number of deaths in typhus fever, is one in 
fifteen or sixteen, the fact that we lost but two in. upwards 
(^sixty, speaks volumes in favour of the mode of treatment 
- adopted, the attention shewn, and the vigilance and ac- 
tivity displayed by every officer of the Gaol. For my 
o)irn individual part, I shall briefly say, that such was 
the anxiety and fatigue I suffered, an inroad has been 
made on my constitution, no reward can repair. 1 have 
the conscientious satisfaction, however, that I faithfully, 
actively, and diligently performed my' duty; and • I 
cannot help impressidg upon the minds^ of my readers, 

that 



CHAPTER IX. 

that when the crowded state of the Gaol ii oontideiedy 
it appears almost a miraclei how the contagion was de- 
stroyed at all. By the admirable treatment of Doctors 
Woodford and Bryar, however, assisted by the means be- 
fore spoken of, and under the blessing of the Almighty, 
it was effectually done; although, at that very period, 
seventy* six men were confined in a day-room, calculated 
to hold no more than twenty, and ninety-nine prisoners 
were confined for trial in cells, originally intended to hold 
no more than twenty-six ! Indeed, at the spring assizes 
held at Taunton, in 1818, (being immediately after the 
period the contagion was destroyed,) I absolutely had to 
conduct ninety-five prisoners to take their trial I which 
I performed also in one day. 

I might, perhaps, under the peculiar circumstances 
in which I stand, exultingly point to this occurrence, 
and ask, whether conduct like mine, on so appalling an 
occasion, be indicative of a disposition to neglect my 
duty. But it is needless. The honest recital of what I 
have effected, will prove to every candid mind, that my 
sufferings have been occasioned, and my enemies been 
actuated, by any thing but a love of justice. When, 
however, I enter upon the full analy zation of the charges 
preferred against me, I fear I shall convigt my perse- 
cutors of something more meanly detestable than mere 
injustice^ a motive oi fear— fear of one of the most in 
significant reptiles that crawls this earth, or ever dis* 
graced humanity. 



/  



CHAPTER X. 



This 18 a logue^ 

ivithoat honour or shame. 
That robb'd the poor wretches 

'who got him a name : 
FamM for poisonous compounds, 

and virulent ravings. 
Boxing, Ijing, defaming, 

and pocketing savings ; 
The slave of ambition 

in liberty's mask ; 
Now the king of a Gaol, 

once a god of the cask 
The lord over felons, 

the radicals' tower, 
Who would wield 

the weapons of lawless power, 
That the jacobins used 

in an evil hour, &c. 
Tide the Loy^lUU' Honiie that Jack built. 



On the 15th of May 1820, 1 removed fourteen 
convicts to the Leviathan Hulk, Portsmouth-Harbour, of 



CHAPTER X> 

y/Awk'^igbi^VMM^ olddflbudfii, and amongit thBm oii« 
Hugh Mac OeddjTy a looksmidiy^-^hose abitttles appeat 
too well vecoidedvto be even doubted $ b^t^ etrai^ as it 
vM^y- Aj^ear^ the same locks- still nMnaiii in Ilehestfeli^ 
Gaol^ and that too without any altenitidn whatever. 

Oft the 17th I returned, haxtiog safely delivered mj!:: 
cliarge; and at ten o'clock the same tiight, Mr* Heniy 
Hunt) the celebiated orator, and self-styled reformer, 
Mrived at Ilchester Gadl^ in the custody of a tipstaff, 
in pursuance of a sentence of the Court of King V Bench, 
directing him to be imprisoned ^r the space of two yeart 
and six months, and, at (he expiration of that periidd^ to' 
find security for his good conduct for five years, himself 
in the penalty of one thousand pounds, and two.suuetieB' 
iu five hundred pounds each^ It being late when he 



* Magiitrat€9' Jovruaij April 26, 1820. 

^ yi9ite4 ib^ QapU ftn4 particol^rly lUKpe^t^d ^0 various 
wsrcb ; my attention wiyi called most particularly tp the behaviour 
of Mao 6ed(}y, a felon mider sentence of transportation ; in my pre- 
sence he easily unlocked the doors of his cell, and prepared wires, 
with whidi the Crovemor opened the main gates in the passage* Urn 
had bettB in the haMi oC opemg his own oell, ^od a1«o pf IjhfBr^of 
other Felons. This appearing lo ta^^pgfi the a9ip ciigtody, ^ 
baxre deaired Mr. Bridle to take additional preoantio^^ and tp apply 
for hi^ early removnl to the place of his .destination. 

« J. Phelips." 

It may appear strange how this convict had the power of pro- 
curing wire to make pidilocks : and it is, therefore, necessary for me 
to say, it was nothing more than the wire that went nnmd ttie rim 
•f his sanoepan, which enabled him to open all the patent Jocks #f 
iho ward, from which wai4 X ^« rpn^pved eigh^y^sc^^f a jMrisoneii 
for tri^i at one assize, and for whose ssfr oiistody my hpiid to th^e 
Sheriff, in J£10,000, filmed a part. 



CHAPTER X* 

aniyed, I caused him to be placed ia the feaiBfeiiifirniaiy 
iraid| mth two other misdemeanotir prisoneis. 

. Oathe day following, John Phelips, esq. of M<Hila« 
OQte, a TiaitiDg Magistiale, inspected the Gaol, to whom 
I reported this committal, and where I had placed the 
prisoner. He accordlnglj entefed the following order 
in the Mpgistiates' Journal, dated May 18, 1880. 

'^ Mr. Bridle reports the reception of Mr. Henry 
^ant, by a sentence of the Court of King's Bench, for 
twoyeaijB and six months' confinement in thia GaoL 
He is placed in the female infirmary ward, with two 
Other prisoners, against whom articles of the peace hare 
been exhibited — there being no other ward adapted for 
t^ purpose ; directed, that Mr. Hunt may use the fire- 
place In the infinnary, adjoining his present ward, until 
it may be wanted for the use of the prison, 

(Signed) John PhelifsJ 



ft 



On the following day I again l6ft the Gaol, with 
other convicts ; I delivered them ; I met a second draft, 
whom I also delivered, and took charge of John Kin- 
near, who was removed to London by a writ of habeas 
corpus, as an evidence, and on the 28th of May^ I 
brought him again to the GaoL 

I b^ my readers specifically to understand, that the 
punishment awarded to the prisoner Hunt, was for a 
Misdemeanour. — On the sentence being passed, he re- 
quested Mr. Jjistice Bailey to direct, that he might not 
be put into solitary confinement : this the learned Judse 
was pleased to command should be complied with ; and 
these two misdemeanour cases, bemg at the period of his 
arrival the sli^tcst in the Gaol, were selected to bear 
him company. 



CHAPTER X. 

It SO happened, that the prisoner Kinnear, was, by 
an Older of the Magistrates, at that time living in my 
honse : being aware of this circumstance, Hunt applied 
for a similar indulgence, which was refused, as of my 
own power, I had no right to grant it. To prevent, 
however, any heart-burnings on tlie subject, the Magis* 
trates were pleased to enter the following order in their 
Journal, dated June 6, 18S0. 

^' It is ordered as follows by the Magistrates 
whose names are below written, together with the Under 
Sheriff, 

• 1st. ^^ That Mr. Kinnear be no longer boarded or 
lodged in the Governor's honse, but that Mr. Kinnear 
and Mr. Hunt be placed on an equality, in the same 
vaid* 

Snd. ^< Ordered, that Mr. Kinnear and Mr. Hunt 
be permitted to receive their visiters in their own ward, 
at the regular hours, until the visiting Magistrates direct 
otherwise. 

3rd. ^^ Ordered, that Mr* Bridle may, if he thinks 
proper, furnish the before-mentioned prisoners with pro- 
visions, dressed in his kitchen at their expense ; but if 
either Mr. Bridle, Mr. Kinnear, or Mr.. Hunt, find the 
above regulation inconvenient, Mr. Bridle is directed to 
apply to the visiting Magistrates for further orders. 

4th. " Ordered, that Mr. Kinnear and Mr. Hunt 
may be allowed the assistance of their present attendants 
in their ward, until further directions. ^ 
(Signed) J. Ph slips. 

John Goobford, 

Henrt Gould, 

J. Newman, 

R. T. Whallby, 

£j)W. Bbodbeip, Under Sheriff.'' 



CHAPTJBa X. 

To give, however, the negative diiect to the 
false statements Henry Hunt has been foisting iipoQ. th^ 
world, I shall here insert, verbatim, the copy of certaia 
affidavits filed against him in the Coort of King's^Beacb, 
in answer to his own, given in the appendix marked Ij^ bj 
which he obtained a rule to shew canae, why he should 
not have ihe full liberty of the Gaol, &c. which nde 
was served on the Sheriff Depute and myself» and called 
forth the fbllowiag depositions in answer. The connael 
employed by Hwt, however, on the reception of th^ae 
affidavits, applied for leave to withdraw the rule, trhidl 
was at length granted ; the Court ord^ng all coats in- 
curred, to be paid by the said Hunt* It may serve te 
shew th6 character of the man a little to state, that he 
refused to pay such costs,' and, in consequence, a detainer 
for the debt, now stands against him, in the Gaol of II« 
Chester. 

TAe Affidavit of 'William Bridle, Keeper of ihe 
Gaol at Bchester. Sworn 2ith Nov. 1890. 

That by a rule or order of this Honorable Coor^ 
made on Monday next after the morrow of the Asqw^ 
sion of our Lord, in the first year of King George the 
Fourth, it was, amongst other things, adjudged and or- 
dered, that Henry Hunt, {who is therein stated to have 
been with others convicted of misdemeanors,) foi: his said 
offences, should be imprisoned in his Majesty's Gaol nt 
Ilchester aforesaid, for the term of two yeaiB and six 
months thence next ensuing.; and it was thereby fur- 
ther ordered, that the Marshal of the Marshalsea of this 
Honorable Court, or his Deputy, should deliver the said 
Henry Hunt into the custody of the keeper of the said 
Gaol at Ilchester, to be, by the said keeper, kept in safe 
custody, in execution of the said judgment. 



OHAFTSR X 

Th^ oa the ITili day of Mfty last, tbe mA Hemy 
Hniity ymSf i& pursuance of sudi rule i» oider, d^veK4 
Solo ^ the Depoacaiit's ciuftod ji at tb^ Gnol at Ilchester 
vfoiesaid. 

That tbe said' Gaol at llcherter is a commoi Gml 
and House of Correoiion, as well as a SheciiSs' Ward or 
£paol : that the Deponent is appeanted hef^er of the said 
iGhk)!, bylbe Magistrates of the said CJouBty,. as : also 
by the Sfaerifi for the time .being. 

'That a Session, called the Gaol .Session, com- 
prised of tbe Sheriff, or liis Under Sheriff tor Deputy, and 
llie MagirtEates of the County ^f Somerset, ;or siich of 
^^m fis^an nnke it conrenient to attend the ^ame, has, 
for many years last -past, been Iield in Ihe said Gad, mi 
MMHoeday,' generally on a Thntsday, in tbe weeks pre- 
ceding t]ie four General Quarter Sessiom of tbe Peace, 
of the said County, for the purpose of enqutfiug into, 
and inspecting the state and condition of the said Gaol, 
and making such otdersand regulaftions for the govern- 
ment and management tberoof, asfrom time to time ap- 
pear to be necessary: smd that ^hese Magistotes have 
also, for many years past, been regularly appoinled, 
agreeably to the Sta^te, to visit and ^uperintedd the said 
Gaol, who frequency attend therein, and always upon 
any applicatioBi from Ae prisoners, to hear, and redress, 
-and dedde upon, any eomplaints; which a^licadons 
have been uniformly and promptly communicated by tbe 
Oeponent to the said visiting Magistrates; free of expense 
to the said prisoners. 

That for some years before the said Henry Hudt 
' was confined in tbe said Gaol, the following rules and or- 
ders had, <amongst others,) been made by the Magi- 
strates itf the said County, at the general Quarter Sessions 



1 



CHAPTER X. 

of the Peace, held ia and for the said Countj, for>«lbe 
good and orderly goyernment and management of the 
said Gaol, and the prisoners confined therein; yiz : ^* That 
one hour from nine o'clock in the morning, one hour 
from twelre o'clock at noon, and one hour from three 
o'clock in the afternoon, should be allowed the debtors 
and such other of the prisoners as are allowed to see their 
friends, bat they are not permitted to enter the Gaol 
twice ill any one hour; but the wife of any prisoner, not 
being a debtor, shall not be admitted at any other part of 
the Gaol, than the visiting-room at the lodge. 

^' That no persons, but the prisoners committed to 
the Gaol, be permitted to lodge therein, except the 
Governor, his officer, and their wives and fiimilies. 

<< That other persons may be permitted to visit the 
prisoners in the day time, in case of sickness of such 
prisoners, and the wives of any prisoners, who are 
dd>tor8, from, nine in the morning till five o'clock in 
the . afternoon ; such wife first applying to the Gaoler, 
and in his absence to the turnkey, and entering her name 
and place of abode in the book in the turnkey's lodge, 
and declaring herself to be the actual wife of such prison- 
er ; but that such wife shall not be permitted to enter the 
Gaol more than twice in any one day." . 

That at the General Quarter Sessions of the Peace 
foHhe said County of Somerset, held at Wells on the 
7th day of April, 1815, an order was made by the 
Court of Quarter Sessions, whereby it was, amongst 
other things, ordered : << Thai in case the Gaoler, or any 
of the officers, or prisoners shall hereafter have reason to 
complain against each other, they are thereby respec- 
tively required to state the grounds of such complaints 
to the visiting Magistrates, the firat time they attend the 

Gaol, 



CHAPTER X. 

(raol^^fter they may feel themselves aggriered, of to the 
Magistrates whd may be assembled at the Gaol SesstonA i 
to the end that siich Magistrates may report the same, 
to the then nett General Quarter Sessiond of the P^ace;*^ 
iThat all such rules and orders w^re in full force, and 
ftcted upon, before and at the time the said Henry Hunt 
"vtras delivered into the Deponent's custody, as ^foresaid. 

That on the arrival oJT the said Henry Hunt at (be 
said Gaol j the Deponent placed the said Henry Hunt iii 
a comfdrtable wardf which tScta perfectly dry and airy^ 
Und which had, fOr a considerable time before^ lieen 
inhabited by five femalei debtors^ who WeMj remoited fhrni 
the same eilip^essty that the said Hclnry Hunt might be 
placed therein ; that at that time there were several beds 
ilnd bedsteads in the bedroom Of the said ward, sueh as 
are allowed to prisoners; and for the tmrtidulitf aeeom^ 
i&odation and comfort of the teid Henry HuHtj aU the 
said beds and aU the bedsteads (save one) ftere re^ 
moved; a good feather bed provided, and the day«iooBi 
and court-yard of the said ward were appropriated to thef 
Use of the said Henry Hunt; andtwoi prisoners^ whtf 
Ivere in custody in the said Gaol^ for wlint of sureties to 
keep the peace^ were placed in the ward adjoining that 
^hich had been So allotted to the said Henry Hunt^ 

That Getard Martin Berkeley Napiet, ^. th^ 
Sheriff of the said County, dying a few days before the 
said Henry Hunt was delivered into the Deponent's 
Custody as aforesaid, the execution of the office of Sheriff 
of the said County devolved on Edmund Broderip, of 
Wells, in the said County, gentteoton^ the person men- 
tioned in the affidavit of the said Henry Hun(« (who had 
been appointed Under Sheriff by the said Gerard Martki 
Berkeley Napier,) and who executed the dutie» of tbe 



CHAPTER j;; 

ofl^ce of Sheriff of the said Coanty for nearly six weeks^ 
till Sir Charles Warwick Bampfylde, bart. the present 
Sheriff, was sworn into the office of Sheriff of the said 
County, who appointed William Melliar, of Wells afiire- 
laid, gentleman, to be his Und^r Sheriff. 

That early in the month of June last, the then three 
visiting Magistrates of the said Gaol, together with otber 
Magistrates of the County of Somerset, and the said 
l^mund Broderip, met at the said Gaol, and after some 
conyersation with the said Henry Hunt, and John Kin- 
near, who was and still is confined in the said Gaol for a 
misdemeanor, in pursnance of the sentence and order of 
this Honorable Court, it was ordered, that the said Joha 
Kinnear apd Henry Hunt should be placed together in 
the sfime day-room or visiting-room, which the said 
Henry Hunt then inhabited ; that they should be per- 
mitted to receive their visiters, during the stated regular 
hours, in. their said room, in which they were so placed, 
instead of the said visiting-room, until the Magistrates 
should direct otherwise ; that the Deponent might furniA 
the said Henry Hunt and John Kinnear with provisions 
dressed in his kitchen, at tlieir expense; and that if either 
the Deponent, the said Henry Hunt, or John Kinnear, 
should find, the foregoing regulations inconvenient, the 
P^onent was directed to apply to the visiting Magi- 
strates for further order ; and that the said Henry Hunt 
and John Kinnear should be allowed the assistance of the 
said two prisoners, ia their said ward, as servants, until 
fiirtber directions. 

That on the S3rd day of the same month of June, 
the visiting Magistrates, at the request of the said Henrjr 
Hnnt and John Kinnear, gave permission to the said 
Hunt and Kinnear to walk for two hours in the yard of 



CHAPTER X. 

the factory, after the prisoners employed ttilsrein bad re- 
tired^m trork; that subsequently thereto, at the re- 
quest of the said Heftry Hunt, afid for the accoxilmodatioii 
and comfort of the said Henry Hunt and John Kinnear, 
their day or sitting room, ivhicH Was before paved -wifh 
stones, bad been floored trilh board, dGk>rs set' up in the 
said apartments, and bells :6xed, to enable t^em to cafl 
their said servants, and the officers of the Gaol ii neces- 
sary ; and a larder and scullery erected. 

That the sleeping-rooih of the said Henry Hunt, 
which is over the said da)r or sitting room, so asi^giied to 
the said Henry Hunt and John Kinnear, and from ^hich 
there is a communication, is of the dimensions of 14 feet 
by 9 feet 4 inches; that the said John Kinnear sleeps in 
linother ward, and the said day or sitting-room is of th^ 
dimensions of 13 feet 4 inches by 9 feet 4 inches, and is 
conveniently fitted up with a register-stove, grate, fire- 
irons, and fender. 

That for the further accommodation of the said 
Henry Hunt and John Kinnear, a proper fire-grate for 
{booking, faatb been placed iri the kitchen or sitting-rbonli 
of the adjoining ward, which the said two servants inha« 
bit; the yards of both the said wards have been newly 
paved, at the request of the said Henry Hunt, and th6 
GOor of the communication between the yard of the ward 
of the said Henry Hunt and John Kinnear, and the yard 
6f the adjoining ward of \he said two other prisoners, 
who act as servants as aforeisaid, is thrown open in the 
day-time, as well for the more easy access of the said 
servants to the said Henijr Hunt and John Kinnear, as to 
enable them, the said Henry Hunt and John Kinnear, to 
walk and take exercise in both the said yards; and for 
their still further accommodation and comfort, they are 



aUovad nearly four hoan daily to vmXk in the factory? 
yardi which i9 about 100 feel long and 40 feel wide. 

That the said Henry Hunt hath often expressed 
liimself to the Deponent, to be well satisfied wRh tbe acr 
coipmpdation wbicb had been shewed to him. 

* 

That in the month of June last, an extract of a letr 
ter from the said Hemy Hunt in Ilchester Gaol, to a 
friend in Bath, and which letter the Deponent verily be? 
lieves was written by the said Henry Hnnt, appeared in 
.a public newspaper called the Sherborne Mercvry, of 
which extract the following is a copy. — 

^^ I believe no man that ever lived, was more bappy 
that I am here ; in fact, I esteem this only a cessi^ion 
from my labours ;. and from all present appearances, I 
anticipate the pleasures, at the end of two years and a 
balf, of leaving this prison, (peifaaps eyen reluctantly,) 
at least five years younger ip iny constitution, than when 
I came in here. I am in the enjoyment of (hat tranquir 
)ity which | have so long in vain wished for; and I pos- 
sess that serenity and cheerfulness of mind, which alonp 
|:an flow from conscious irectitude of intention, accom- 
panied by th(9 most vigorous h^th, arising from tempe^ 
fance ^nd e:^ercisej wl^ich, as far as {the strict discipliim 
pf this prison will permit, 1 shall not f^il to coqtinae; 
pleanlin^y which 19 next to godIine99, as well as. the 
greatest regularity, predominate here ; and all the pterson^ 
employed about the place, at the same time that , tbey 
perform most strictly the several duties i^Ilotted to 
fhem, (Bondupt themselves in the most becoming man* 
VfiTw Altbpngh I aQi in a dungeon I haye at present no rci^f 
fon to complain. Last night I began to write the history 
pf ifiy life, ivhich I intend to publish in numbers monthr 
ly > ^^g fi/^ number vill be published in a fortnight^ 



t«»» 



pimilar accountii were continued to be publlthed for 



- < That at the Gaol Sessiooa, held there on the 4th 
day of JnHy last, it was at the request of the said Henry 
Hiint ordered) that he and the said John Kinn^r should 
be permitted io see visiters in their said room, from nine 
o'clock in the momiBg until sun^set, until further orders : 
and for the further acoomnuxlation of the said Henry 
,Hunt and John Kfamear, they were permitted to walk in 
the said factory yard, at all such times as should be 
deemed proper by Deponent, except during the hours of 
labour ; and they were also permitted to dine ajt DepQ* 
nent's table, when convenient to Deponent, the time of 
the meal being limited to one hour ; that the said Heniy 
Hunt, did several times afterwards dine at the Deponent's 
table, tiU at lepgth the said Henry Hunt voluntarily with- 
drew hi^elf from so dining at the Deponent's table. 

That subsequent to the said last-mentioned ondeiVy 
the said H^nry Hunt was often visited in his apartments 
by many persons ; and from the 3Ist day. of July t9 the 
fiOth of August, he was daily visited in his said day or 
•8|ttipg voom, by a Mr9, Vince^ with whom, fisthe Depo* 



monitm after the arrival of this man; besides which, his discotu^e io 

• «*' ■• ..» •  • , ^ 

his friends and visiters proved to them how mnch he was pleasea 
with m^ condnot towards him. 'Al>bnt the month of Aiigiut, 1820* 
s Mr» Balster, of Sherborne, and twa other gftitlemeD, heisg i& Us 
room, the oonifersation turned on the heat of the wei^ther, when hs 
said, V* That very few gentlemen enjoyed so co^prtable a room as 
he did ; that the Governor did every thing in his power to make all 
persons under hjis care comfortable and happy ; see,^^ said he, ^ the 
prisoners are now watering my court and passages to keep it cold. If 
all the men in this kingdom bad, upon their oaths, said, thai xaAir 
ibia government there was one Graoi where all the duties were well 
•iHid truly performed, I would not have believed them, but I now 
find^ by my own experience, there is one, and this is the yary o^e,,^* 



4;H AFTER X. 

•ii0nt badi heard and bdieves^ the said Henry Hunt had 
pieriondy oobabited for some time, she being the wife of 
ft Mr. Vince, and the said Henry Hunt being also a 
married man ; and that (he said Mrs. Yince geheraHy 
remained with the said Henry Hunt, daring the greatest 
pfiirt of the time allowed by the last-mentioned order : 
That It jronng lady, of the name of Gray, also risited the 
said Henry Hunt, often during the sameperiod, in the 
ddy or sitting-room ; and that dinners, wine, and other 
Uqaors, were brought from the inn^ in the town of Hches- 
ter, unto the said Gaol, for the entertainment of the said 
Hemy Hunt, and the said female and other visiters* . 

That these latter circumstances having been repre- 
sent^d to the Magistrates of the said County, who were 
assembled at the Assizes at Wells, on the 14th day of 
'August, by the visiting Magistrates of the said Gaol, or 
aome of them, and by Deponent ; an order was prepared 
by the Clerk of the Peace of the said County, and signed 
•by ihe said iMugistrates, and also by Mr. William Melliar, 
ibe Under Sheriff, of which the following is a copy : 

*^ WeUsy 14th August, 1820. It appearing, that 
inconveniences having arisen in consequence of certain 
orders, rules, and regulations, which were made by the 
.visiting and. other Justices, assembled at theGacd at 
Ilchester, on Thursday, the 6th day of July last, it is 
now ordered, that such orders, rules, and regulations, 
(excepting such parts thereof as relate to the improve-* 
ments of the wards in which Henry Hunt and John 
Kinnear are confined, as also to the permission granted 
to them to walk in the liianufactory yard, and to their 
®R>ldoyinent of two prisoners as servants,) be rescinded ; 
>^nd that in future, no female visiters, except the wives 
^»rf ehUdren of the said Henry Hunt and John Kinnear, 



be adm^^ed into thek private rooms ; and male^ Twtttsfitt 
te therein admitted, only between the hours of nine lijOlv 
twelve o'clock in the forenoon, and three to four p'd^t. 
in the afternoon : and it is farther ordered, thi(( tl\e^fcec{^ 
of the md Gaol do not peimit any prumerrto bocod im^ 
Ipdge in Jiis house.'' Th«t su<^h order was signield by tbe> 
foUowing twenty Magistrates of the said County ;;yj;r.> 
John Wijitshire, Vincent Stud^ey, George Ed wurd AXtCfff^ 
and William Clarke, esqrs. Sir John Cox Hii^fssly, bafft.r 
the Rev. J. S. PhUlptt, and Richard Thomas ^^haUey^i 
clerks: Sir Abraham £ltoo, hart* the Rev* Qr. C<^toBy; 
and Aaron M^oody, esq. (then two of ^e. visitiii^ IMUl*'! 
gistrates of the said GaolO John Phelips, John 'Stiiaift: 
Hippisley, Fmncis Drake, Richard Thomas Combe^ 
JohnThring, the Rey^ Thomas Coney, s^d J. G.P«> 
Thriog, clerks ; Thomas Strangways^ Horner, WiQiaQii 
Banning, and L. St. Albyn, esqrs^ and by Mr. William. 
Melliar, the Under Sheriff of the said County. 

That notice of the said order was firi^tgived by the. 
Deponent to the said Henry Hunt and John Kinnearj, 
oil the 20th day of August last ; who had then no visiter 
or visiters with them in the said Gaol. 

That shortly afterwards the said Mrs. Vince and 
Miss Gray came to visit the said Henry Hunt^ who ren. 
fused to see them unless they were admitted into his jurL*. 
vate apartment, which the Deponent did not permit, aa^ 
being contrary to the said last-mentioned order. 

That at the Gaol Sessions there held, on the 12th 
day of October last, the said Henry Hunt having. by a 
letter complained of theTestriction contained in the said 
order of the 14th day of August, and of other matters,- 
it was ordered by the visiting and other Magistrates then, 
present, that copies of aUithe orders. telatfve to the &iid 



« • 

Hedty Hunt aod John Kinnear, with copies of tbeit n^ 
sfiective commitments, should be hid before the Court of 
Gfeueral Quarter Sessions of the Peace, to be held at ' 
Taunton, on the Monday following; which was done 
accordingly : when the said Cdnrt of Quarter Sessions 
ordered, that the said Henrj Hunt and John Kinnear, 
ahoidd be permitted to receive their respective wives and 
ehUdrenf and also male visiters, in their own wards, 
(the number not exceeding four persons at any one time^) 
between the hours of nine in the forenoon acid four in the 
afternoon^ from Michaelmas to Lady-day, and between 
the hours of nine in th^ forenodn and setefn in the after- 
noon, from Lady-day to Michaelmasi and that lid fe- 
male visiters (except as aforesaid) be admitted to th^ 
said Henry Hunt and John Kinnear, but at the usual 
hours, in the debtors' visiting-room, at the said Gaol ; 
unless upon some urgent occasion, allowed by and stated 
in an order first obtained from one of the visiting Justices 
of the said Gaol, or the Sheriff of the said County of 
Somerset* 

That no person or persons who hath or have applied 
at the said Gaol, to see the said Henry Hunt or John 
Kinnear ,ifras or ware refused admittance, to them cur either 
of them, during the hours and under the said existing 
orders and regulatiouB ; nor hath or have any sucb'perscHi 
or persons, on any occasion, been treated in a brutal 
and savage, or any other unkind or improper manner 
by Deponent, or by any of the officers of the said Gaol, 
to Deponent's knowledge or belief. 

That the said Henry Hunt hath not been treated by 
Dq^Kinent, nor by any. officers of the said Gaol, to Dc- 
ponoit's knowledge or belief, in a cruel or any unkind. 
"^^/i ou the contrary, the Deponent hath done^ and atilL 

is 



CHAPTER X« 

Ifl mnxioos) contisientlj with hb daty, to da ever/ thiog 
that can in wy way add to the pomfort) convenieiioe^ and 
aocommodation of the said Henry Hunt 

That the said Henry Hant hath not tostalned any 
solitary confinement in the day4inie, except daring tin 
period of dirine service in the chapel of the said Gaal, 
on Snndaysy and on Chrtstmas^day last past t which ge» 
nerally continues about an hour und a half; when^ ioaa* 
much as the said John Kinnear, and the two other pri- 
Bomn appointed to attend on the said Henry Hunt and 
John Kinnear, as aforesaid, together with all the other 
prisoners and officers of the said GaoI| are attending 
diviae service in the said chapel, which the said Henry 
Hunt refosea to attend, and is the only prisoner in the 
eaid Gaol, who does not without good cause attend : aad 
as one of the walls of the said wards, U the bpundary or 
oatside wall of the said Gaol, and the. back wall, it is 
not safi^ to suffer him, the said Henry Hunt, to hare Irange 
of the yards of the said wards^ during such per iod, and 
tbeiefore the out^ door of his apartment is locked^ dar- 
i^g the said period of divine service, for the safe cuslody 
only of the aaid Henry Hunt, and not by way of increased 
punishment ; and th^ such door is regularly uidoctod as 
soon as diving service is over ; aud that the doors of all 
ottier prisoners, who from sickness or other cause, do not 
attend such divine service, are lockejl in like manner* 

That the said Henry Hunt and John Kinnear have 
pmcb more liberty, and more comforts extended to theoi, 
than to any other prisoner or prisbners, confined in the 
said Gaol for misdemeanors ; or to any debtor, or to any 
pther prisoner or priaooers whatsoever, confined in the 
said Gaol. 



. CHAPTER X. 

Thut the apartment x>f the said Henry Hunt was, 
tBome time before he was placed therein, appropriated to 
the residence of a female turnkey, who superintended the 
ward allotted to female prisoners ; and that at that time, 
tiie internal fiistenings of the doors, referred to in the af- 
fidavit of the said Henry Hunt, had been fixed for the 
safety and security of such female turnkey; but that such 
internal fastenings were removed after the said Henry 
Huntand John Kinnear were placed in the said ward, 
when the improvements of the said ward were making ; 
such internal fastenings being, as Deponent apprehends, 
inconsistent with the proper management of a prison, 
and might be used by the prisoner confined, to prevent 
the ready access of the Deponent or his officers, to the 
said apartment, in case sach access should at any time' 
be deemed necessary. 

That the Deponent has long known the said Edmund 
Broderip, who has many times served the office of Under 
Sheriff of the said County ; that after the said order of 
- the 14th day of Augnst had been handed to, and perused 
by the Deponent, he, the Deponent, having some doubts 
as to the construction of the said order, and the intention 
of the Magistrates, asked the said Edmund Broderip, 
who had attended some of the meetings at the Gaol, as 
before stated, and who the Deponent considered was 
competent thereto, to give this Deponent his opinion 
thereon, who there wrote in the Deponent's presence, the 
words or to the effect following. <^ Sir, I conceive that 
no visiters ought to be admitted into the private rooms, 
except in the hours mentioned in the accompanying or- 
der ; and I think the general rule, as to the admission of 
visiters into the conversation or visiting room, stifl re- 
mains as it was, and includes both the prisoners in ques- 



CHAPl:*ER X. 

tion^ who are entitled to the benefit of it; but when either 
of these gentlemen choose to remove from their priyate 
apartment to the visiting-room, to see any friends there, 
all visiters then in the private apartment ought to quit 
the Gaol. If you wish for any further informatioui I 
think you should apply to the visiting Magistrates. 

<< I am, sir, your obedient servant, Edmund Brod^p, 
Welb, 20th of August, 1820." 

That the said Edmund Broderip hath not, at toy 
personal interview with, or by letter to Deponent, or 
otherwise, directly or indirectly, directed, advised, oc 
requested the Deponent, to treat the said Henry Hunt in a 
cruel, or in any unkind or harsh manner; that the before** 
mentioned written opinion or letter, of the said EdmUnd 
Broderip, is the same which the' said Henry Hunt has 
referred to in his aiSidavit, as having' beeii produced by 
the Deponent to the said visiting Magistrates, Aaron 
Moody, esq. and the Rev. Dr. Colston, as a justification 
for cruelties, therein charged by the said Henry Hunt 
to have been inflicted oh him by Deponent ; but Depo<* 
nent saith, that such allegation was, and is untrue, as 
Deponent never inflicted, or caused to be inflicted, any 
cruelties on the said Henry Hunt,' nor produced such 
letter to the said visiting Magistrates, for the purpose 
stated by the said Henry Hunt in his affidavit* 

That the Deponent knows Francis Drake, mentioned 
in the said affidavit of the said Henry Hunt, who is one 
of the acting Magistrates of the said County of Somer- 
set ; but the Deponent never heard, nor does he believe, 
that the said Edmund Broderip, is an agent of, or in any 
way connected with, the said Francis Drake. 

That the several persons who are confined for misde- 
meanors, in the said Gaol, (except the said Henry Hunt 



CHAPTER X« 

and Joim Kiontarj) are confined In a iraid ifrkh olhct 
prisonetB for slight offiances ; and that there is a yaid at- 
tached to the said wanly for the several prisoners coi^ned 
in that waid^ to walk and take exercise in ; butthat suck 
said several prisoneiB last-mentioned^ are not permitted 
to walk for exercise or amusement in the yard of the said 
fuokxjj or in any other yard^ save that attached to their 
said wanl ; nor have debtois, or any other prisooem who 
are c<Mifined in the said Oao)| permission to walk or take 
exercise or amnsement b any other yard of the said Gaol, 
save the yard attached to each ward respective^. 

That in case the prisonen Confined in the said Gad, 
either as <£M)to», or fiMr misdemeanofs, or any other 
offence^ w^te permitted to have the free range <^tbe di£* 
fiMnt yards of the said Gaol, or if femries were to be 
indiscriminately admitted to them^ much iasnboidiiia^ 
tion^ indecommi confusion, and milcMef wonld be oo* 
oasioiMsd thereby j and that it would not be posstUe Id 
keep the prisoners confined in the said Gad, in a state 
of temperance, decorum^ and decent and orderly beha* 
viour; or to manage and govern the said Gad in a proper 
amnn^r, or consiBtent with morality, and the safe custody 
t! the prisoners confined thennn, 

That DqpOnent verily believes, the apprehension of 
the said Henry Huiit that he shall meet with some bodfly 
harm in the said Gaol, as stated in his affidavit^ is with- 
out any foundation ; that the said Henry Hunt appears 
%oi the Deponent, to be in as good health as he was when 
he first entered the said Graol on the 17th of May last; 
Hiat he hath not sustained any bodily injury or pecuniary 
losses, owing to any trcaUnent or privations attributable 
to the said rules and regulations of. the said Gaol^ or the 
said orders which baTe beea so made ; and (hat the said 



Heftrjr Hunt, y/roalA not have made any complaint 
against the Sheriff^ tte Under Sheriff, the Magistrates of 
the said County, the said Edmund Broderip, or the 
Deponent, ifthe said order ofthe&h day of July last 
had not been altered; he, the said Henry Hnnt, baying 
repeatedly expressed himself to that efiect to Deponent 
before, and at the time of, the service on the Deponent 
of the rule obtained by him, the said Heniy Hont^ 
s^abstthe said Sheriff and the Deponent, on tbeSSnd 
or 23rd day of November last, and since that tisae^ 

That the debtors' visiting-room, in which the said 
Heniy Hunt and John Kinaear aie permitted to see 
sQch persons as am by the said order of tlie 16th day ci 
October last, restricted from adnussion into thdr ward, 
is not the voom or place whei^ feloi», convicts, and per- 
sons chaiged with mid convicted of umatuml crimen, 
beastiaiity, and murder, see and meet then: associates ; 
nor have prisoners of that description access to the said 
debtors^ vtsitii^room, tinless for the purpose of consult- 
ing their solicitors on business. 

That Deponent hath been informed and beiieves, 
that on the ISth day of December last, whilst the Depo- 
nent was absent from tlie said Gad in the removal bf 
prisoners, tlie said Sir Charles Warir ick Bampfylde, the 
Sheriff, came to the said Gaol, and saw the said Henry 
Hunt, and entered the following oider in the Magfistrates' 
Journal of the said Gaol : -^ 

<< Itchester Gaoly Dec. 15, 18S0. 
^^ Mr. Hunt is to be allowed to receive the visits of 
la» female as well as male friends, from nine in the morn- 
ing till 4 in the afternoon, in his private room. 

(Signed) Ch as. W. Ba mpftlde, High Sheriff." 
And that some day after making the said order, the said 



CHAPTER X. . 

Mn. y ince and Miss Gray applied for admission to the 
said Henry Hunt, and they Trere and since have Heen 
daily admitted to the said Henry Hunt, in his said 
apartment, on apidication for that purpose, \?ithoat any 
hindrance or denial of the Deponent, or of the turnkey 
of the said Gaol, as Deponent verily believes. 

7^ ig^daviYo/ Edward Sheppard, a prisoner con-' 
Jtned solely for debt in Ilchester Gaol, sworn 94tik 
of Nw. 1820. 

That he knows Henry Hnnt, late of Middleton- 
cotlage, in the County of Hants, but now also a prisoner 
in the said Gaol for a misdemeanor. 

That Deponent hath occasionally met the said Henry 
Hunt, in the room called the conversation-room of the 
said Gaol, and hath heard him say, that he was very 
happy ; more so than he had been for many years ; that 
every body was very civil and kind to him, and that he 
did not feel his imprisonment : or words to that or the 
like eflfect. 

Xhe affidavit of Thomas Datis, turnkey of the Gaol 
at Ilchestery sworn 94ith of Nov. 18S0. 

That on the dOth day of July last, Mrs. Yince yi« 
sited Henry Hunt, late of Middleton-cottage, in the 
County of Hants, but then and still a prisoner in the said 
Gaol. 

That the said Henry Hunt conducted the said Mrs. 
Yince to his sitting-room, and observed to her, that such 
room was as good as his sitting-room at home. 



CHAPTER X. 

That Deponent was, at that time, in the daily habit 
of taking Mr. Hunt's dinner to him, and that Deponent 
hath frequently heard Mr. Hunt say to his visiters, he 
ifas very comfortable, and the people (meaning those 
having the care of the Gaol) were very kind to him. 

Affidavit of Aaron Moody, of Kingsdon^ esquire^ 

swomMth of Nov. 1820. 

That Deponent is one of the Magistrates named and 
deposed to by Henry Hunt, late of Middleton-cottage in 
the County of Hants, but now a prisoner in his Majesty's 
Graol at Ilchester, in the County of Somerset, in and by 
the affidavit of said Henry Hunt, referred toby the rule 
obtained by him, frpm this Honourable Court, against 
the Sheriff of Somersetshire, and the keeper of said Gaol. 

That Deponent, as one of his Majesty's Justices of 
the Peace for the said County, was present at a meeting 
of such Magistrates, on the 14th day of August last, 
when the order stated by the said affidavit to have been 
then made on the suggestion of Francis Drake, esq. was 
decided upon. 

That such order was not made at the particular sug- 
gestion of the said Francis Drake, but by the body of 
Magistrates then assembled. 

That said Henry Hunt stated to Deponent and the 
Rev. Dr. Colston, as visiting Magistrates, that a Miss 
Gray had property left her in Ireland, and that she bad 
occasion to consult him, the said Henry Hunt, as her 
guardian, on the subject of such property; but that to 
the best of Deponent's recollection and belief, neither this 
Deponent or the Rev. Dr. Colston was ever applied to 
by or for Miss Gray, to allow her to see Henry Hunt. 



CBAMTBR X. 

That be iras present at the Quarter Sevioiis at 
TauotoD^ Ob tbe 16th daj of October^ when the order 
of that date ktferred to, in and by the said affidaTit of the 
•aid Hebry Huat^ was idso made; and that Francris 
Orakei esq. was not then present That the said ord^r 
was made after due consideration, and that according to 
tbe best of D^nent's judgment and belief, the same is 
essential to the good government and regulation of the 
said GaoL 

Affidavit ^ Faakcis Draki, eiqi qf WeJU^ mgem 

the95iktyfNav.lSM. 

That be was one of the MJogiatrates assembled at 
Wells, on tbe 14th of August last^ as stated in the affida* 
yitof the said Henry Hunt ; that although tbe proceed' 
ings which then took place, did not originate with the 
Deponent, the order to which they ultin^iteIy led, met 
with his entire approbation and concurrence, manifested 
by his signature annexed thereto; but Deponent denies 
that the share which he took in making such order, ori- 
ginated in any desire to oppress the said Heniy Hunt, or 
to deprive him of any indulgencies which are consistent 
with the good order and management of the said GaoL 

That Deponent hath been informed, tfaai the said 
Henry Hunt had taken an improper advantage, of an 
order that had been made on the 6th day of July last, 
by introducing into the Gaol, a female visiter of tbe 
name of Yince, said to be tbe wife of a Mr. Yince, the 
said Henry Hunt being a married man ; and that it ap- 
peared to Deponent that such visits were utterly incon- 
sistent with public decorum, and with the due govert- 
ment of the Gaol, and with the rules wid regubtian^ 4>f 

the 



flvr iaiiidy ifbidi were adopted many jean Ago, t^jslafeil 
irit the affida?it of Wiliiam Bridle, the keeper of the said 
GaoL 

That Deponent hath not interfered in any manner or 
vespect wiratsoever, either dlreetly or indireclly, wit& 
legBsd to the said Henry Hnnt, except as aforesaid : and 
iba^bererily believes, that the indalgeneies which the 
said Henry Hunt now enjoys, are grecHer than thbse 
which are allowed by the general rules of the Gaol, and 
sucn as no other prisoner for misdemeanors had been 
hitherto permitted to enjoy. ' 

That Mr. Edmund Broderip, of Wells, neither is, 
or ever was, an agent of Depodent^s ; and that Deponent 
never had any conversation or communication whatever, 
directly or indirectly, with the said Edmund Broderip, 
flie Sheriff of the County, the Under Sheriff, or the said 
William Bridle, respecting the said Henry Hunt, except-- 
ing only on the 14th day of August above mentioned, at 
the meeting of the Magistrates aforesaid,' when the said 
Sdmund Broderip was present on behalf of the Undeir 
Sheriff. 

Further Affidavit of the said Fravcis Dbake, esq. 
sworn S9th of November^ 1820. 

Tliat Deponent was not present at the last General 
Quarter Sessions of the Peace, holden for the said Coun- 
ty ; and that it is not true that the Deponent took any 
share, either directly or indirectly, or in any manner 
whatsoever^ in any discussions which might Imve there 
arisen, touching any of the matters alluded to in tKe 
affidavit ^ the said Henry Hunt. And that Deponent 
- did not even know that any such discussion had actuaUy 



CHAPTER X. 

tttken place at such SessioD, until Saturday last^ the iSUs 
of November instant, \rhen he saw the allegation of aach 
a fact in the said affidavit of the said Henry Hunt. 

J%e affidavit of Jouv Quantock, of Norton^under^ 
HamdeHj County qf Somerset^ esq. and Richard 
Thomas WuiLLfiv, 4f Teoviltony in the said 
Countp^ CUrky sworn Hitk of Nov. 1820. 

Severally say, that they are two of his Majesty's 
Justices of the Peacei acting in and for the said County. 

That the Justices of the Peace assembled at the 
General Quarter Sessions, held at Taunton, in and foK 
the said County, on the 16th day of October last^ did, 
by and with the consent and approbation of the High 
Sheriff of the said County, make their order lespectiiq^ 
the said Henry Hunt and one John Kinnear, prisoncis-iii 
his Majesty's Gaol of the said County : Whereby it was 
ordered, that certain orders, made by the said Justices 
of the said County, on the fith day of July and 14th of 
August last past, rdative to the said Henry Hunt and 
John Kinnear, which had been made by. the visiting 
Magistrates of the said Gaol, and Magistrates of the said 
County, should be rescinded ; and that the said Henry 
Hunt and John Kinnear should be permitted to receive 
the respective wives and children, and also male visiters, 
in their own wards, the numbers not exceeding four per- 
sons at any one time, between the hours of nine in tlie 
forenoon ^d four in the afternoon, from Michaelmas to 
l4idy-^ay, and from the hour of nine in the forenoon to 
the hour of seven in the afternoon, from Lady-day to 
Michaelmas : and that no female visiters (except as afore- 
said) should be admitted (p 4k^ said Henry Hunt attd 



*r. 



JohnKinnter, hvA at the usual houn, k the, debtoit' 
visiltog»room, at the said Gaol^ unless upofi some urgent 
occasion, allowed by, and stated in, an older first, ob- 
tauied for tliat purpose, from one of the witing Justices 
q( the said Gaol, or the Sheriff of the said County. 

•Sajr, that they are the two of the visiting Magi- 
grates named by the said Henry Hunt in; his affidavit, 
and the paper-writiqg thereto annexed, respectively re* 
ferred to by the rule obtained by the said H^enry Hunt, 
against the^Sheriff of Somersetshire, and the keeper of 
•the said QapL 

That Deponrats, » such vinting Miigistmtes of the 
said Gaol, for the time being, (John: Goodfoni, esq. the 
other visiting Magistrate, being also present,) were, on the 
fSth day of October last past, applied to by the said 
Henry Hunt, for an interpretation of the latter part of 
the said order, made on the said 16th day of that month, 
tekting to the non-admission of femtiles, unless upon 
"Some urgent occasion. 

That Deponents, with the said John Goodford^ did 
tipon that occasion acquaint the said Heniy Hunt, that 
although -it was their wish to act in the most liberal man- 
ner towards a person in his, the said Henry Hunt's situa- 
tion, they did not consider themselves authorized by the 
said order, to permit the unrestrieied admission of :fi« 
males into his own ward ; but that in case of emergency, 
such as private business of importance or sickness, an 
immediate order for that purpose would be granted, on 
application to either of the visiting Magistrates. 

Say, that in their judgment, the said order of the 
16th day of October last, is essential for the good govern* 
ment of the said Gaol. 



X. 

'fOm ajfUmwit ^Ittmamm Bmonair, ^ Ji»iir,.i» 

. if Naimmberf 18SQ. 

Tti«t IB thejDoiih of Feliiii|U7 iMt) Ikp 
by GemrdMiiitiaaetiB&fey Napier, esq. Sberiff «f die 
JGomty of Somenet^ «n[Niutted Under Sheriff of the 
iml Gamtf ; thai; is oomeqiieiice of the dcalh 4tf Ike 
aBJdGemid Maitin Bedcelej Napier, wbidbt lian?nied 
jb tke noBth of l&y lart, Deponeirf; perfbns^ ox»- 

nifidtbiQaceitfSlMriffofthoaaidQoMtr, ferMadj 
nz weeks, until Sir Charles Warwick Bamgi^^f hofl. 
Ike pmnit SkMiff^ was mom iiio the ofiee of fiberiff 
a tbe^aidl Ckwat/, who appointed WiHtaA M«Iiww <if 
Wrdyb> geademaii^ to be his Under SheoO: 

That withki a few days after tbo ^th of the md 
Cleiard Maitio Sevkeley Napier, t^e said flawy Uwt 
yiu deliYeml ioiqt the custody ol WiUma Jiddkv 
impel of the Gaol at Ikhefit^, io the /paid Coiptjr ; «d 
that early in the month of June last, the ?iaitjag Vfig^ 
ftiatfs of the md Gaol, tag^^ ygitk oM»er acting Ma- 
^gytraka of the laid Cwnty, luid Pepoaeoti. P0l 9t the 
said Gaol, aad gave crdei)! and diieotieqs for the aocom- 
nodi^tioo ai|d poip^Kt of the wd Henry Hun^ wbkk 
M^oninipdatioiis and comforts were a9erwfird% bgrml^ 
sequent orders of the Jfi^stices of thfi «|id ICounl^ii.qw? 
siderably incieased^ 

, . That after the order of the i4tb day pf August last, 
^ferred to in the affidavit of the said Henry Hunt» h^ 
been delivered to the said WiUiani Bridle, be^ the said 
William Bridle, asked the Deponent's ppiaioa as to the 
effect of the said order| which Deponent gave him 99- 
cordingly. 

That Deponent attended at the General Quarter 
Sessions of the Peace, held at Taunton, on the 16th day. 



«riO«blMr ^ immA inibe phoe of Mie slid Wtthdk 
MeUiar, Urn Under Biitvff^ wftaim Htm ahscni ftoM 
l||ie> ^aid Csmlf) to Tetom ilie J«mii.to Uie mid Gfeneral 
Q««plcff Sesi^onsy (whick iDispMieiil isbjr tihe taid gfaeiMT 
Htimrkedte do, aad to d#aBj otber official aobtfev tbi 
•aid Waiiam MeHiar,) kut Deponent denies tiiat ke thea 
^lis, or aoir ii, lui ageol of Fraoois Diake^ esq. Aa acC^ 
iag'iBagistiato of the said County, or tbat he is aajr wa^ 
^oneeriMBd ^rilb tbe said Fraoois Dri^, or Aal 4lie said 
ArMiois Dcake was-j^ioeseal at kneb lastrOieiitiosedSessioiis^ 
ukmiDepomat denes, dud in any pefsonal mferview bd 
&ad wkb A&said WUMam Bridle, pt in any letter wbieik 
Deponent has written to the said WiBiam Btidle, relatiT^ 
to the said Henry Hunt, or in any other way whatsoever, 
be. Deponent, hatb ioBiieneed or dindted the said Wm. 
Bridie, to treat the said Henry Hunt in a cruel manner, 
at slated m tbe aAdavi^ of the said Henry Hunt ~ 
\ .' ' ^ . . . . • • • . 

?ree ^fftdemt qfJonv Goodford, eygr. of Yeovif^ 
imom 9he VHh of January^ 1631/ - 

States, that he is one of-bis Majesfty^s Justices offfae 
Bmmk^ aeting* in and for the said County of Somerset ; 
Md that be Wis, on the !6tb day of October last, ap- 
jpointed one of (be visiting^ Magistrates of tbe Gaoil of 
ilobesler, witbin the said Ckmnty. 

That he has seen the copy of an afikfarit made on 
tbe 9ltb day of November last, by John Quantocb, esq*, 
and tbe Rev. Richard Thomas WhaHey, respecting an 
tMder which was made and confirmed on the 16th day 
of October last, at the Mtchaelmas^ General Quarter 
Sessionsfoftbe Peace, held at Taunton, witbin the said 
County, with regard to Henry Hunt and John Kinnear, 



CAAPTBK.Z. 

(pifsonen in tbe Gaol of Ilchesterafimemdi) the cooieato 
of whick affidavit lie belieyes to be strictly true. .. 

. That at thetime when the said. John Quantock^ esq^ 
and Richard Thomas Whalley made their joint affidavit, 
lelatjng .to tbe order aforesaid, he bad removed from his 
resid^toe at Yeoyil, aforesaid, to^iheCity of Batb,,oa 
accoant of ill health ; and that he was therefore at ioo 
gfeat a distance from them, to allow of the ppssibility of 
any commnnicaUon with them on. the subject, or to. ad- 
mit of his being apprized of ihe circumstances, so. as .to 
enable him to prepare a separate affidavit, fcnr the purpose 
of being laid befpre your honourable Court o&.the 81st 
day of November last. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

t 

It will be seen by the foregoing itffidavit of William 
Bridle, that the charge of Mr. Hunt's being placed in a 
damp cell, and his having been treated with cruelty, is 
untrue. It will also appear, that the rules and orders for 
the government of the Gaol, were made many yeans be- 
fore he was sent to Ilchester. 

That the Magistn^tes (who, by the statute 92od G^* 
JI. chap. 28, section 6, have alone the power to make 
prcper rules and orders for the better government of Gaob 
and prisoners,) have enlarged and modified those rules 
and orders, in favor of Hunt and Kinnear, and greater 
liberty and indulgencies have been, extended towards 
them than to any other prisoner in the Gaol, whether 
confined for debt, or any criminal charge. It will also 
be seen that the solitary confinement and the removal 
of the internal fastenings, which Hunt complains of,, ate 
satbfactorily accounted for. 



I trast my leaders have patieDtly and caiefallj pe« 
itised the foregoing affidavits, as tbej plainly and forci* 
biy prove the falsehood- of the statenkents Hunt has been 
giving to the world. For my own part, I am conscious 
that L gave the Orator no cause of offence, bat that of 
enforcing the orders of the Magistrates. They very pro- 
perly deemed it to be indecorous, that adultery should 
be carried on within the walls of a Gaol, and directed 
such intercourse to l)e prevented ; the carrying that di- 
rection into execution, brought on me all the virulencCi 
and rage, and venom of the infuriated prisoner.* From 
this period nothing was wanting, that malice and perjury 
could effect, to injure me ; and I need only relate one 
circumstance^ to shew the nature of the means employed 
against me. 

A prisoner, of the name of William Chidley, had 
been discharged from the Gaol, and became a resident 
in Taunton. This man, whilst in confinement, was em- 
ployed as a servant by Henry Hunt. On the day of his 
discharge, he brought me the paper subjoined in the 



* In a letter addressed to the Radloals, (in his Memoin,) ^ On 
the ISih day of the second year after the Manchester Massacre,'' he 
complains of the Rules and Orders of the Gaol, and states, ^ 1 have 
now denominated this place the Ilchester Bastile, because, from the 
new restrictions iniposed, and the cruel tortures initicted upon me, 
ivithout even the shadow of complaint havipg been preferred against 
me, it is made nearly to resemble the. description we' have heaid«f 
the Bastile in Paris, before the French Revolution." This is hii 
first letter after the order of the 14th of August, aU hispreviona 
letters are dated '' IlcheMiar Gaolp'' It i% thMeisf«v tbe osdeiv of 
the Magistrates, and not any act of mine, thai ha* caused their Gaol 
Iqt be so designated* 



gm,^ itot^tofliey thal^^l h&d tatter tal^ eaire of 
ibjsel^ for tiiat Hant Was determiiied ;to TUiii mc.^ 
i jiAed hiai) 'Why^rHeraid^ « ife did not know, birt 
llHt he hMl kesMd Hunt fiieqaently dtdlmb ^ ;*^ and 
iildflily tUL <^ke bad TeeeiTed money from btm to trent 
Ifae^otbor prisoners, (bat day diaelisnpged, for the purpose 
of jdeBiriog tbem to teH him| ^betber tbej conld testify 
any thiag agaiost me." I bade bim ^ Go, and doa« Hunt 
had direcled bim;' but I bave reason to know, Uie pii« 
foaerft to a man) (len in number,) declared tbey bad no 
eompbiint to make ^ataaever. Tbe subjoined lettert 

•**TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN.' 

^ Ilcbester Baatile^ Jan. 15/A, 1821. 

. ^ Thii is io certify^^Jiat William Chedley, being a prisoner in 

this place, was appointed by the Gaoler to wait upon me as my 

servant, which he has done- for nine weeks honestly, attentively, 

vnifaitltfaUy ; therefore, be* is entitled to the kind consideration of 

.«U true Badieali. 

*^ GUiVen ander myhaBdandsealt^bisfifteeBthdajr'af 

January, 1821. " .. 

«^IIXiiaT HiTirr.'» 

^ Waion, Feb. 23, 1821. 
VBaty -^ . 

^ I saw^Sftndleigh somelim^ alter he mtss dfiMfiaigied 
•fram yonz'Gaol, md hetold me he brought a letter for Mr. J'^miobs*; 
tetlie met Mr. ShiUebeer in the street, and told him 4l»t he bad 
» letter from Mr. Hnnt to Mr. Jacobs ; Mr. et^lebeer desir^ tdaa 
io iim liim. th» letter for Mr. Jaoobs, which be did. A day or iWo 
«fbsp^ias4Mir. 8hiilebeer again m thestreet, and Shniebeer adted 
liim^ *^ If Mr. Hont^id not give him a character r* he told bim 'He 
did, but lie had not got it, for he leftit with Mr. Bridle, as he ihoiig;bt 
^idMHMter would' be of IHtle serriee to hhn, coming f^om a prisoner 
m»GMd.* Minebser sailed liim ^If yon refnsed to let bim have Hf ^ 
and he said, ^ No: for I thought it would beof neser^iocf^ add 

from 



CHAMTEIl X. 

ffdfti the k^per of the Gaol lat Taunton, ^fll fhlly c&H^ 
roborate this tianralion. ' 

About eleven \i'eeks afterwards, howerer, the before« 
mentioned Mr. Shillibeer^ of Taunton, an agent of 
Hant's, sends for this Gbidley, plies him ivith lujuor^ 
gives htm money, and at length induces him to ingn a 
paper, of whose natufe, the man, neady intoxicated, is 
utterly ignorant. Some days after, Shillibeer again meets 
this man, gives him more money, and telk him^ ^^ H«$ 
peUtim is pregenied 4o the House of Gommon9^^ 
Ghidiey , amazed, etiquires ^What petftion?^ and demands 
to knbw its iinpott. On being informed, he energetically 
exclaimed, ^ I never had cause of complaint against 
Mr» Bridle in my life, and you have deceived me.' 

Such was the mode practised to procure petitiooe 
against me, to be forwarded to the House of Commons-; 
and I humbly implore that HpnoraUe House to cite me 
to their bar, to substantiate the fact.* If I mistake not, 
an imposition on that Honorable House is a crime* Let 

therefore I left it with Mr. Bridle ;* and Chadleigh iaid, ^ he told 
Shillebeer that you told him, he should have it at any time when 
he ehofie to send for it;^ Chndleigh also told me, that Mr. Hnnt 
asked him, ^ if there were not to be some more prisoners discharged 
besides himself?^' he said, ^ I believe there are f then Mr. Hunt 
said, ^ I will give you some money io drink my health ; and aj<k 
them if they have any complaint to make against the kcieper or the 
turnkeys, and if they have, to let me knowj and I will vaork 
tbem/or it i" Chudleigh sakl, * they all met in the town, but hp 
did not hear any of them say they had any complaint to make.^ : 

^ I am. Sir, your obedient servant, 

« Alexander GanIb.!' 

* This petition was presentad by Mr. Hume, on the 2ad of 
April, 18m, aad in the papers of the day, is set forth ea the petHioa 

of A Pmson^^ braviiiY irombd, and suffubimo hardships 

IN'IliGBBSTBR GAOL! 



CHAPTER X. 

me. have the means of drawing down just punisbment 
on the heads of these infamous conspirators, and I am 
IHttisfied. 

My chief foe has laboured hard to show to the world 
bis real character, and he has not laboured in vain, for 
be has given it a high colouring.* However he may 



* Hani, in his Memoirs, page 310, 311, gives an accoant of the 
birth of his first child, and describes repeated assaolts made on him, 
by those then present, to procure a wet nnrse, dc. on which he 
states, ^ I heard all they had to say, bnt I stuck to my point like a 
hero.^^ Again, ^ At the end of two days, the grand attack was made 
by three matrons, the nurse, and the doctor; they all came down 
stairs in a body, loudly declaring- that they wonld not force the poor 
weak niother to destroy herself by such a course ; that the child 
must certainly die ; that it was starved already ; that unless I would 
suffer ihera to send for a wet nurse in the morning, they wonld leave 
the house, and I might stay and kill the ^ild myself, for that they 
would not stay to be witness of the murder. I saw through the 
premeditated assault, and was immovably silent ; one said U was 
cruel, another that it was indecent, a third that it was hard-hearted, 
and a fourth that I did not deserve such a wife or child, for I wished 
to kill the one and break the heart of the other. I told them if they 
would remain below, I would go up and consult my wife. I found 
her bathed in tears for the safety of the child; I assured her the child 
was in perfect health, and it had been bom then nearly three day^ . 
Having left the child comfortably asleep, I returned down stairs to 
the matrons y I told them I had no doubt but the n^other and child 
would do very well, if they would leave her alone : this enraged 
them, they insisted, dc« ^ Well,^ said I very calmly but very 
determinedly, * if it must be so it mn&t ; If yon are of the same 
mind to-morrow, and the doctor confirms your opinion, I will kill 
the puppies, and it shall suck my beautiful setter. Junto, with all 
my heart, but by God, it shall never taste the milk of another 
woman, while its mother is alive and as well able to nurse it as she 
now is." Hunt is soon after spending his evening with some friends 
and he narrates, ^ About eleven o^dock a message was brought me 
that my child was very ill ; I mounted my horse and reached my 
hoq^ whfn I entered the room. Oh God ! the childwas lying de%d 



CltAPTBR X. 

succeed in triumphing oyer innocence now, the day muil 
arrive ^hen he will meet retribution. I know no one 
description of men who have escaped his libellous abuse, 
excepting, only, his own wretched and deluded proselytes 
— the King — the venerable Ministers of our Holy Reli- 
gion — the Ministers of our Government — ^the learned 
Judges of the land — and indeed all that is sacred and 
binding in society, are the continual objects of his vitu- 
peration and derision. 

Extract from the Political Lecture on Head$» 

Now such is the snuffling petitioner's friend, 

Who aims to destroy, what be swears to defend $ 

The knave who occasion'd the bloodshed and woe. 

Which the Manchester victims have shewn and still shew : 

The High Priest of Riot, conunotion and plunder. 

The tyrant o'er all whom hb threats can keep und^r; 

The filthy accuser of innocent men, 

For crimes which we scorn here to mention again ; 

The ruddy vicegerent of cobblers and thieves 

The quack who derides all the fools he deceives ; 

Who lives without shame with another man's wife. 

And thinks fornication the aest of his life ; 

Who looks upon justice, and virtue, and truth. 

As things of no value, or beauty forsooth : 

Makes a jest of decorum, a joke of propriety. 

And longs ix> unlink all the bonds of society : 

But enough of this wretch — his detestable plots 

Are only supported by blackguards and sots. 



in its mother's lap, the mother speechless, with her eyes riveited 
upon her lifeless offspring.^' 

Who woald have thought that any man could be so depraved 
as to have acted thus; bnt haviDg so acted, who wotdd have thought 
bis weakness would have betvayed him to the publication of it ! 



CHAPTER XI, 



J. N my last chapter I have soecincttj declaved to 
my readers, that tbe only cause of my becoming obnox- 
ious to the prisoner Hunt, was my being the instrument to 
carry into eflfeot, orders tbi^ l»ppened to obstruct tbe 
gratification of his passions. ' Mean, and despicably r&- 
yengefnl, he ceneciired, probably, that the servant was 
^[iiore easily destroyed than the master; and, therefore, tbe 
seryaptsho^ be attacked, whether innocent or guilty. 
Had he possessed either the feelings of a man,, or the 
heart of a gentleman, be would haveieiec^ed, thai if be 
was aggtieyed, tbe grievance sprui^ from a higher power 
than myself. I was the mere organ, of that power, 
bound to^ obey it, whether it issued mandate* that eoB« 
fined him soUtarity to his ward, or admitted to him all 
the rabble of sodety. But, no, the venom of theteptite 
was overiSbwing, and meanly, fearing, to attack the 
Magistmtes, he must spit it out upon the head of the 
devoted Gaoler. 

I had long been aware of the conspimcy that was 
hatching against me ; I knew that the da3mon had long 
been brooding over the crocodile egg of mingled false- 
hood and villainy, his own brain had brought forth, and 
that the period of incubation was nearly at its close. 
Accordingly, in the month of April, 1821, appeared that 
work entitled, ^^ A Peep into Ilchesfer Bastile ;" a work 



.CHAPTER XL 

^hicb I.bel41-y affirm to be one entire falsehood from the 
begiimiiig tio the en^. 

At the tji^e Ibi^ celebr^te^ pamphlet made 1^9 ap- 
pearaac^ X ^a3 a^t Taui^toa attending the diity q{ tbe^ 
a^^s ; a.c9py of it ^^s ioime4J^te]j forwarded tome t^y 
onip of mj officers, tpgflheriwith 9 ^tatemeiilt thait it bad 
be^i;!. industripuslj circulated iqi the Gaol, and ^bi^t the 
prisioners were, w a state of disorder and ppea mutiny* 
J im^e^ii^^e^ eqqlosed tbat same pa0^)h1iet^ («o received 
If J m^,) to the Under Sheriff of ^he County, toget^f 9; 
WJith a letter,. rqqi)€isting thc^t he would be plef^ t^ lajfr 
thQs^iQe.before, the Sheriff and Magistrates; and further 
prying that lan immediate enquiry might be iustituied 
into my .coiAduat^ in omdet that the fakehood^^ contained 
ifk ,th^ said pamphlet might be fully exposed, uod the 
libellous wr^er . brought to the judgment he poerited* 
. , It wiU.be^en, by thi&^ Qifcuo^stance, that I adopted 
a.,f^ir, opeii>, and manly . procedure : I knew the cha- 
f fifOt^ of my accuser too well, to doubt, that any thii^ 
9^iUgni(y could suggest, or perjury sustain, would 
he . w^Qtjbg , iq destroy me : bul I knew^ also,^ that my 
^onftci^noe acquitted me of all intentional erroc i and, 
tbat open inyesUgatioa, if conducted with fairness and 
impartiaUty, woMld, must indeed, necessarily acquit me* 
That open inrestigation I immediately courted ; and the 
High Sheriff appointed a day for the sitting of himself 
and a Committee of the Magistracy, to commence the 
proceed jpg.. 

Prior, however, to the arrival of the day in ques« 
tion, in consequence of the ^veral petitions Hunt had 
got up and forwarded to the House of Commons, a Com- 
mission was issued under the Great Seal, to enquire into 
the treatment of the prisoners, and the state of the Gaol. 
Notwithstanding the knowledge of this Commission, the 



CHAPTER XI. 

Gommittee of Magistrates met at Ilchester on the likh 
day of April, and proceeded into the investigation of m j 
conduct. Mr. Hnnt opened the business, and addressed 
the Sheriff and Magistrates, requesting the Under She* 
riff and Clerk of the Peace not to interrupt him, a» it 
was a Committee of the Sheriff and Magistrates alone* 
— The Under Sheriff and Clerk af the Peace, however, 
stated in reply, that they should act officially in their 
respective capacities. Mr. Hnnt proceeded to state his 
case, and produce his witnesses. On the first day I 
had no person to interfere on my behalf, relying, that the 
Magistrates would protect me, and would see that a due 
course of proceedings was adopted. To my astonish- 
ment and grief, however, I thought I discovered amazing' 
partiality shewn to my accuser ; and I instantly imagined 
they feared implication on their own parts, and would, 
to avoid it, even coalesce with Hunt, to procure my min. 
It was plain to me then, that my thirteen years of 
faithful and anxious services were forgetten — that I stood 
alonej exposed to the storm of malignity the infamy of 
my accuser had risen. ' I saw, that so far from receiving 
that protection I merited from the Committee, there were 
some amongst them, against whose wiliness I had to con- 
tend, and whose hostility towards me was obvious. I 
immediately, therefore, called in to my assistance my 
solicitor, Mr. White, who attended for me during the 
remainder of the proceedings. At the end of fourteen 
days. Hunt was pleased to notify that he had closed his 
case, and 1 was called on to produce my defence that 
day week. My solicitor remonstrated against the short- 
ness of the period allotted me, but the Committee peremp- 
torily refused to grant me an hour longer. Such was my 
first reward. 



CHAPTER XI. 

I instantly repaired to London, to obtaiii proper ad- 
vice as to the course I should pursue. On my arrival 
there, I ascertained the Commission was going down in- 
«tanter. Under these circumstances, I applied for the 
opinion of Counsel, whether it would be proper for me 
to advance my defence before the Committee, seeing that 
I should have to re-produce the same defence, and the 
same witnesses to support it, immediately, before a higher 
tribunal. I stated in the case submitted to my counsel, 
that 1 entertained the highest respect for the Magistrates 
composing the Committee, and I would not wish to adopt 
any course that might be considered disrespectful towards 
them ; but, considering the manner in which the case had 
been conducted, managed, and advocated by my accu- 
ser, I submitted that my protection required that mode 
of defence, which the wisdom and practise of the law 
pointed out as the true road to justice. 

I subjoin the opinion of my Counsel;* upon which 
I acted. It was clear, that as the Sheriff and Magistrates 



^ ^ It being a matter of notoriety tbat his Majesty has been 
pleased, in parsnanee of an address from the Commons House of 
Parliament, to order a Commission to issue to inqnire into the state 
of Ilchester Gaol^ and for the investigation of charges, impating 
misconduct to Mr. Bridle ; and as it is ascertained, that the Commis- 
sioners are forthwith to proceed on the enquiry specially delegated to 
them, we are of opinion, that it would be a departure from the known 
principles of justice, to require Mr. Bridle to disclose, to the party 
accusing him, the nature and proof of his defence, before such inves- 
tigatioi^ legally commences. It is clear that the proceedings before 
the Committee of Magistrates will be no evidence before the Com- 
missioners; and after Mr. Bridle has incurred the expense, and labour 
of a long and arduous defence before the Magistrates, it will be use- 
less and unavailing to him befctt the Cemroission. We l^ave no 



CRAPTER XI. 

were a self-constituted Court, I had no powef of prose- 
cuting any perjurers that might be there brdugfat agatiist 
toe ; ft was notoriout, also, that a hig4i and solemn Trfs- 
bunal had been constituted by theGovemment to investik- 
gate my 'Conduct, and that to require me to produde tbe 
same body of evidence, before two Courts^ was entailing 
on me an expense my finances would not bear, and was, 
moreover, both cruel and unjust, independent also of the 
utter impossibility of my attending two Courts at the 
same time, for the Commissioners had now commenced 
their sittings. 

Yet to this strait did the Committee Wantonly reduce 
me ; they impugned my motivd^ ; they reject^ the opi- 
nion of my Counsel ; they wilfully and determinateijr 
tergiversated the only means left me to procure true and 
sound justice ; and finally, they delivered their verdict 
against me, without hearing my defence, without deign- 
ing to receive and peruse the defence I had niade before 
the Commissioners on oath, an attested copy of which 
I offered to present them, and entailed on me the alterna- 
tive of receiving judgment unheard, or the enormous 
expense of re-embodjring my witnesses; an expense 
which they well knew I was utterly unable to bear. 



besitation therefore, in advising Mr. Bridle respectfally to decline, 
under those circumstances, to enter on his defence before the Com- 
mittee of Magistrates ; and we are persuaded, that those gentlemen, 
on consideration, will perceive the unnecessary hardship of imposing 
on Mr. B* the labonr and expense of proceedings ^iob cannot aooe- 
leratc mt promote the ends of justice, and which an immediate and 
more regular investigation on oath, duly administered, will rendef 

nugatory. 

^Abraham Moore, 

^ Mag 22, 1821, ^ CflAS. Frbd. WILLIAMS/* 

^ King'M'Beneh- fVdOuj Temple. 



EHAP9BB ZI. 

fi KM is nfin I aidently, jat nespectfully, protested 
fl|;9ihi3t nmb. isondvct; (see appendix K;) thi^p€u»Bd 
tkei^judgmmt on m^ unheard^ and loy yeacs of (aithful, 
|imefi|;» and ardaous senrices Vieoe all forgotten. I bad 
spoilt tbie prime of my life, and waated my beat eoergies 
under their own eye, and within their own approbation; 
ilad tbup yf9B I treated, became I wnM not throw away 
th^ kfst remainder qfthe Utile pittance I had $o hardly 
gathered in their employ. 

I bexe sabjoin the ebarges preferred against me^ by 
Hunt, before the Committee, together with the decision 
gisrm by th|i| Commitiee on each distinct charge. 

Cbari/es pr^erred against Mn Wm. J^ridle^ the 
Gaoler of the County^ and Gav/ernor of the Hgy^e 
qf Correction f in hie Majesty* s GhqI ett Ilchester^ in 
the County of Somerset^ by Henry Huntp Esq. a 
Prisoner confined in 4he County Gctol^ under a Sen-^ 
fence of the Court of King*s Bench for two Years 
find SUV Sfonths^ for cUfending a petucffhle J^e^timg 
at Manchester^ August 16, 1819. 

^ ist. Gross neglect of duty, 

^ Snd* DmnkennesB within and witiioiit the Gael. 

^ 3d. GamUing in the Gaol with the prisoners. 

<^4tfa. Swearing blaspfaemons and shocking oaths 
in th^Gaol. 

<^ fitb. Neglecting to attend dime serrice. 

^^ 6tb* Opening the Gaol during the cation and 
Admitting the populaoe with flags, oolouffs, and bands of 
master dancing) himself and others, with wofoea of ihe 
town, giriog them liquor and making them drunk ; and 
llll this in.the presence and sight of some of the felons, 
and other prisoners, mi^ within the Iteariqg of tie wlide. 



1 cBiLparaa;zi. 

'^*TUi. Craeltjand injustice to tbe prinonm, male 
and female;* and, amongst other things, witbboUii^ 
froni them, during sickness and fevers, meat,'i¥iney and 

' other necessaiics allowed bjr and charged to the Coanty^ 
and appropriating them to the use of himself, his-familj, 

: and visiters. 

<<8th« Permitting, at other times, the necessaries 
charged to the County and intended for the sick prison- 
ers, to pass through the hands of his brother and sister- 

- law, the taskmaster and mistress, who had a large familj 

'. that he knew were deprived of the common necessaries 
of life, in consequence of his having stopped back half 
their salary which the County had allowed them, and 

'applied, without their consent, to pay off a real or pre- 

' tended claim of his own. 

<^ 9th. For inflicting torture on the prisoners, male 
and female, and infants. 

^' 10th. For compelling bojs and men, for misde- 
meanors, to associate and sleep with felons, convicts, 
bouse-breakers, forgers, coiners, and even making boys 
sleep with a man convicted of bcastiality. 

'* 1 Ith. For compelling well-behaved, though un- 
fortunate, women, convicted of misdemeanors, to associate 
and sleep with felons, convicts, house-breakers, forgers, 

. criminals of all sorts convicted of uttering forged notes, 
base coin, street-walkers, depraved and infections, to the 
great injury of their morals, comfort, and health. 

^M2th. In suffering male and female. prisonen to 
mingle together under his own roof, and their bastards 
to be supported at the County expense, vr it bout bringing 
them before the magistrates to be swtMrn to the fathers, 

. and being strongly suspected, not only of connivance^ 

. bat of participating in sacfa Icregnlarities. 



<^ Latfly. At conniyii^* at the prhonen being im* 

posed upon; of knowing ibey bad notbing but bad 

UttteMOidrink ; and refusing (heir having other, water, 

although be^knew it. was unwholesome and pernicious;. 

and, in fact, of having been guilty, of all those things 

charged in a publication, called ^^ The Peep into Ilcbes- 

far Bastile ; " with the exception of one or two errors of 

tbe press.V 

(Signed) "H. Hunt/' 

Report of the Committee on the foregoing Chargee. 

<< 1st. Neglect of duty proved in several instances. 

^^Snd. Not proved. 

'^3d. Proved to have played cards, with* a pri« 
aoner. 

^^4th«^ Proved to have< used oaths occasionally- in 
Ae Gaol, but not of a blasphemous or shocking nature* 

<< 5(h. Proved that he did not regularly attend 
ilivine service. 

^^ 6th. Proved to have opened the Gaol doors du« 
ring aa election ; to hcive admitted the populace with 
flags, colours, and bands of music ; to have permitted 
4ancing, and to have danced himself with a female 
<inhabitant . of the town of Ivelchester on that occasion ; 
to. have distributed liquor, but not to have made any 
person drunk. 

" 7th. Not proved. 

**8th. Proved that necessaries charged to the 
:>CQiinty, and intended for the sick prisoners, did (accord- 
ing to the acknowledged regulations of the Gaol) pass 
through the hands of the taskmaster and matron ; and, 
that part of their salaries was withheld, but it is not io 
proof that it was so withheld vvithout their consent. 



chaftbh n» 

^<9lB. Pmtad td haye andied li UMic td the 
Bttd df k prifldner asined Oaidttiery ks a pmisfanicali 
and, for a ^miderable letigth e£ time) to biTe nnaoo^t* 
sariljr bandoujBSed, daj and nighl^ witb bk bands bcbiAil 
bini) a bejr natbed Wbeeler^ 

<< lOtb. Ptored to bate periditt^d boys aAd meh 
to asBoeiate toother, wbieb orif biated ftom tbe ofoiMad 
state of the Gaol. Also proyed to have allowed a boy ttf 
sleep uritfa h man convict^ of beastiality, contrary to an 
express written order that boys should not, under any 
considerafioh whatever, sleep with men. 

^^ 1 Itb. Prored in some instanees, bat the €lrotrded 
state of the Gaol, and want of sbpaiate a^oonlnKidation, 
veadered it udaroidable* 

^' 12th. Proved, in one instance, to have soflfered 
four inale prisoners and one female prisdiier^ to be em- 
ployed togetheir under bis owh rdof; tbe fikmer ik 
fcouttty-work, and tbe latter as a domestic Servant The 
mothers* of the supposed bastard children, alluded to iii 
(his chaise, could not be examiiled on oath As to the 
Ibihers of suoh children, inasmucb as tbd motben al 
IbAt time were ^nvicted felons. 

^^ Last charge. Not proved ^ to the respective mat^ 
t^rs paHlcalarised in this cbarge; ahd^ ^itb respect to 
!**11 tbote ihiflgb cbar^ in apublii^attM called the 
Peep into Ilchester Bastile,'' we decline ofibring an 
opiuion on so diffuse an accusation." 

* Af a proof of the genemi eorreehUM of this de^ioti^I htl^ 
to ny, that one of the women alluded tOy aad Mid to be ineapablo 
6{ exaQiiBatioQ on aoeonut of her be«nt a eomtieUA felony was^ i^t 
tbe time the Committee sat, and for fifteen months before, abso- 
lutely at large, and resident in Frome. It is worthy of rema/k also, 
that she had a£tliated the child, haying sworn it on a natiVe bf 
Ilchester. 



' OA'fbe8l8tda;f of Jtil jit irak Communicated to me 
bj the Cle^k of the Pea6e, << the said Gommittee had 
oono to the resolution, that I yfM unfit to hold the sitoa* 
tidn of keepif of the Prison^^ aftd that I was about to be 

* I subjoin the copy of li letter I addressed to the High SberiJf 
bM Magistraies immediately I learned their deeinion) praying to be- 
dismissed earlier than the period they had fixed on^ and xeqnesting 
to be informed the grountUt on which they Uionght proper to dis- 
charge me. Yet it was absolutely the 19tb of October before I ooold 
procure their decision on the different charges brought against me, 

^ td tU bigh Shefiif «« tlcheatef Gaot^ Aug. 1, 18JI1. 

mtsA Visitjfif Mtgiitliit««4 

On Friday last you communicated to me, 
that an Order of Sessions was made ibr my being dismissed from my 
service aa Governor of this Qaol, and that such order was to be put 
in loree en the 3d of December next; at the same time you stated 
to me that Mr. Oolee would inform me* by putting me in possession 
of a written document, the cause of the Sheriff and Magistrates in 
Sessions coming to this resolution. By yesterday ^s post 1 received 
• packet from Mr. Coles^ containing the order in question ; and the 
only cause therein assigned for my dismissal is, ^ That I am. unfit 
to hold such a situation.^' This, with submission to you,Gentlemen, 
and with great deference and rei^ect to the Magistrates in Sessions, 
10 nvt the ooiwe; thia is the order made upon the report of the Com- 
mittee, and the report itself it ike cause. I have been accused 
before you, and the accusation, described in thirteen specific charges* 
]ias been published and made notorious to the world by the accuser. 
The world is anxious to be informed the result of your inquiry in a 
more honest manner than tbe publication that has ^ready appeared. 
How far this may meet the views of the Sheriff and Magistrates, I 
must leave to their wisdom and discretion, but I submit to them 
that to keep any thing from me, that led them to the conclusion 
flgainjtt me, will be imposing additional hardships and cruelties on 
my.oiiild^ which, unless my offences are numerous and desperate 
^deed« hu altetdy fluffered enou^i Ai a boon then I ask of the 



OBAFTOi XI. 

discbai^ed." The difference of conduct eecempltfied if 
this Committee towards rojself and Henry Hunt, maj 
be set^n by the fact, that they made an official commuar* 
oatioa of their decision to him immediaiefyy whibt I 
procured a copy thereof with the utmost difficulty, and 
at the end of a most protracted period. . 



MagigtratcB, that they will be pleased to let me know the amomit 
of my misdoiDgB, as far as the same has come to their knowledge, 
and that they will be pleased to direct the Clerk of the Peace U> pro* 
▼ide me with a copy of the report forthwith. I beg also to obaerw, 
thatimder my present distress, it would be an additional bardahip, |i 
would, in fact, be cruel, to compel me to renuun here until the 3d: 
of December ; and, as I am so unfit to hold the situation, it - may 
not, perhaps, be deemed unwise to dismiss me earlier ; from my 
duty yet, be the task whatetrer it may, I have never slunk; aiid^ 
therefore, I would not wish to throw the burthen of the assizes on 
a young and inexperienced oflScer, but attend to it myself, be the 
sacrifice ever so great; in saying this I hope the Magistrates will 
see, that I am actuated by no hostile motives, because their decision 
is against me; but that I am anxious to leave, as early as convenient, 
after that duty is performed, rathef than be compelled te remove 
the remnant I have left, and to seek a new home so near the shortest 
day as the 3rd of December. If the Magistrates of themselves 
do not know any thing of the evidence I brought before the Com- 
missioners, their officer, the Clerk of the Peace does know ; he sat in 
Court to watch the progress of the proceedings, to protect the Blagis- 
trates,and to minute the evidence generally ; from this gentleman, 
then they may learn, that during my defence, repeated interrnp* 
tions in the examination of my witnesses took place, in order that 
the report on the state, the scite, the health, dc. of the Gaol, the 
Vater, the drains, and other things located with the Gaol, and not 
charges against me, be inquired into. This Mr. Coles will recollect 
I complained of as tending to increase my expense, which, with the 
distance some of my witnesses came, and the number at a time I had 
to bed and to board, (say at le^t forty,) was enormous. I beg to be 
excused for introducing this subject ; my object in doing so is merely 



I bmewm io ask that Committee trliy, seeing tbey 
f decided I was unfit to liold the situation, they kept me 

• ia it so long? .Did they fear the report of the Commis- 
. sioners might put them to the blush for their hasty deci* 

hway and therefore wished to have me on the spot in 

• readiness to reinstate me should it be so? Let the world 
judge of their motives. I only know, that it was owing 
entirely to my own repeated applications, that I got clear 
of the Gaol so early as the tenth of November. The 
same Committee who decided I was unfit to hold the sMa- 

. ation of Gaoler in July, would have kept me in that 
•situation until the following December, if I had not, pf 
. my own will, repeatedly protested against it. If, there- 
fore, I was actually unfit, I accuse that Committee of a 
. high breach of duty towards the County, in continuing 
. me in a situation they had decided I was unworthy to fill. 
But I have not yet done with them ; X ask William 
Hanning, esq. the present High ISherifF, bow his opinion 
.of the crime of adultery has so quickly undergone a ma- 
terial change ? That gentleman, on the Hth of August, 

• 1820, coincided in tlie opinion of nineteen other, of bis 
brother Magistrates, that to carry on an adulterous inter- 



to show that these thin^ have been explained at my expense^ and I 
leave it incandonr with the Magistrates, to bear snch portion of the 
expense, or to make me snch allowance as they, under all the cir- 
cumstances of the case, shall think I am entitled to. 

^ I address this letter most respectfully, to the Sheriff and visit- 
ing Magistrates^ and I call upon them, individually, to afford toe 
such countenance and support only, as, upon their honour as gentle- 
men and their feelings as men, they conceive I am deserving of or 

entitled to. 

^ I am, Grenilemen, 

'^ Your mo»t obediflot Servant, 

« W. BatnuiR.'^ 



* edine Hfkbin die walls of n Gael, was «8 inieeoiroas as 
its practice wUfaout was improper, and signed an oeier to 
prerentit: bnton the S7th daj of Julj, 18S1^ he, tie 
•aid William Hanning, esq. as High Sheriff of the Caua- 
ly, of himself orders, that such intercourse between lb. 
Hunt a married roan, and Mrs. Yinee, the wife of an- 
other man, shall be permitted in the Gaol under his 
charge. 

I wiH ask that gentleman the reason of this change ; 
but be will not repi j-- 1 fearlessly assert, therefore, that 
to turn away from himself the anger of tiie mighty Dema- 
gogue, was this revolution caused in his principles. 

Henry Hunt indeed must ba^re been bard to' conci- 
liate. — When he first advances his charges, he demands 
permission to have the power of ordering any of the pri- 
soners into his own ward, whensoever he pleases, for 
examination : this is allowed him $ but of this I do not 
specifically complain ; although every one must he aware 
of the power of subornation granted him by suchper' 
mission^ with such men as the population of a Gaol 
comprises; and subornation both by money and Uquor 
was never wanting. Fair and candid investigation, 



* ^ Magistrates^ Journal, July 27* 
^^ Iq conj auction with the opiniop of many Magistrivtef, I do 
order that Mr. Hunt be permitted to see his male and female visiteiSy 
not exceeding four at one time in his ward. 

(Sigped) " W. HApiNINO." 

^ MagUlrates* Journal, Aug. 10. 

^ 'fke High Sheriff being psesent, it M ordered, tjti^t i^ fo9f 

visiters permittedl to have access to Mr. Hunt, are to b« in n^ditiqn 

to the members of his own family, viz. Mr. Hunt's Son, M^f. Vi|M9f9 

and Miss Gray, 

(gigoed) . ^ A. MooDT, 

^ ViNCBNT STUCKET.'* 

however^ 



CHAPTER XI. 

however, was my object; of this pernusBion, therefore^ I 
do not complain ; but I ask, why was such pennissioa 
continued >after the investigation was closed ? This is a 
£ict the world shall know — I find on reference to my Oc- 
currence Book, that on Saturday, the 30th day of June, 
iSSl, the Commissioners closed their labours, and quit- 
ted the Gaol — conceiving that the order before alluded 
to, was no longer necessary, I directed that the rules of 
the Gaol be acted up to ; but on the following Wednes* 
day, July .4, I am again ordered by William Hanning, 
esq. to continue to Hunt the power of seeing and exa- 
mining whatsoever prisoners he pleases. 

The world can now no longer be at a loss to conjec« 
ture how Hunt could arrive at what he terms l^is informa* 
tion, but what I term the perjuries he suborned.- Surprise 
may, perhaps, be elicited at this narration, but the nar- 
ration is true. There are some men so despicably con- 
stituted, that fear is their ruling constituent, and to it 
they would sacrifice, all that is beautiful in religion, and 
all that is adorning to society. Its leprous efiect blasts 
all their actions, holds them up to the scorn of the age in 
which they live, and hands them down to posterity, ob- 
jects of loathing, detestation, and contempt. 



CHAPTER XII. 



•>**•■ 



Jl have now briefly and summarily conr-*' 
ducted my readers through a narration of the state of 
Ilchester Gaol, as I found it, to the pitch of perfection 
in which I left it. I have endeavoured to shew the dili- 
gence, the activity, the perseverance, I exemplified in 
tiie fulfilment of my duty. I have shewn also the nature 
of the reward I met with from the Committee of Magis- 
trates appointed to investigate my conduct : and I intreat 
the reader to pause and candidly consider, whether I 
iave or have not been causelessly, deeply, and irremedi- 
ably injured, I now, of necessity, come to the investi- 
gation of the charges produced against me, before the 
Commissioners appointed under the Great Seal : a dissec* 
tion of the characters brought forward in their support ; 
and my defence and answer thereto. 

This portion of my work, however, I am, for the pre- 
sent, unavoidably obliged to postpone : my reasons for so 
doing are imperious and obvious. In the first place, I 
am not yet acquainted with the report of the Commis- 
sioners, and, consequently, am at a loss for the tone and 
spirit of my reply. In the second place, in consequence 



CHAPTER XII. 

of the Parliament being about to meet much eatfierthanr 
I expected, I am anxious to send this portion of my 
work into the world, in order to put the honorable mem- 
bers of that House in possession of a statement of factv 
that cannot fail to work in my favor. I have been most 
unjustly treated ; I have been tor the last eleven months 
the object of unceasing libel and venomous abuse. I 
have been the victim of as vile a conspiracy, as ever ma- 
lignity hatched or perjury supported* The >¥hole world 
knows that the Committee of Magistrates have punished 
me for what they were pleased to term my neglect ; be it 
my object, therefore, to shew to the world what I have 
done to merit such a return. 

As soon, however, as the report of IheLCommissioners 
shall reach me, my defence shall come forth. I an^notw 
unprovided with means. I have the Magistrates' Journal 
and my Occurrence Book ; and, if it be necessary, every 
line shall be given to the world. I will sift the testimony 
of Hunt's crew to the very dregs. I will shew him and his 
conspirators naked to the world. There is not an act, not 
a means which he has used, but I am in possession of. 
And, as he owed his notoriety to a gang of deluded, un- 
principled, and profligate wretches, in the first instance, 
so, through the use of such a gang, shall he be again 
plunged into infamous obscurity — and my hand shall lift 
the veil : my pen shall hold him up as he is^ and consign 
him to that detestation and obloquy he so richly merits. 

I now solemnly pledge myself to refute every charge 
fliat man has brought against me. I pledge myself to 
prove to the world, that I have really been the victim of 
as malignant a conspiracy as ever the wickedness of the 
human heart produced ; and I only implore my country- 



CHAPTER XII. 

men to saspeod their judgment until they have heard my 
defence in toto. That defence shall be most full; and, in 
the mean time, 1 intfeat that what I hare already set forth 
be most seriously considered, and the question weighed, 
ivbether a man who has effected what I have effected, 
can, by possibility, be fairly called a neglecter of bis 
dttty. 



APPENDIX. 



(A.) 

> 

Extract from the Taui^ton Couribr, December 19, 1816. 

It will be recollected, that towards the end of the year 
1814, a Deputation of the Court of Lord Mayor and Aldermen 
of the City of London, were appointed to inspect the Gaol of 
Gloucester, and such other Prisons as they might think fit to 
visit, with a new of acquiring a knowledge of the most ap- 
proved modes of constructing and managing gaols, so that 
whatever excellence or improvement nught be presented to 
their notice in the course of their visitation, it might be 
transferred to the several places of confinement within the 
City of London. A Orctdar from the Secretary of State's 
Office to the several Governors in England and Wales, secured 
to the Deputation the means of accomplishing the laudable 
object of their mission. 

The Committee accordingly proceeded on their journey, 
and among other places visited the Gaol at Ilchester. 

A body of Gentlemen — ^thus devoting themselves to an ob- 
ject wMch associates the service of the public with the inter- 
ests of humanity, entitle themselves to the highest respect of 
Society. Their motives, disinterested and phiianthTopic, as 
unquestionably they were, shed a lustre upon their under* 
tridng; and it ia a duty which we most cheerfully perform, 
to tender them on behalf of the public, this tribute of its 
thankfiifaMss and approbation. 

B 



2 APPENDIX. 

A variety of circumstances will, however, often frustnrte 
the due completion of the most honourable designs; nor 
should we be surprized to find, that in a Commission which 
embraced so wide a duty as that allotted to this Committee, 
instances occur to excite regret, that they either had it not in 
their power, or if they had, that they did not sufficiently avail 
themselves of the means of achieving their honourable duties, 
in a manner as fully satisfactory as could have been desired. 
If therefore, we take the liberty of pointing out some remark- 
able inaccuracies and misrepresentations in their Report, we 
trust, that in so doing, we shall only evince a solicitude for 
truth, and not be suspected of the remotest disposition to in- 
validate a statement, that has gone forth to the public, ^th ail 
the reconunendations of a pure motive and an honourable zeal. 

The Committee, a few months ago, published their Report; 
and speaking of Dchester County Gaol and Bridewell, ^taU a 
variety of representations, which in so extraordinary a d^gieo 
militate against the facts, that the discrepancy niust be DRfitter 
of extreme surprise to those who are able to contrast tjiar 
knowledge of them with the Committee's Report. How these 
errors could have arisen, would have been absolutely vsac- 
countable, but from a reference to a Volume published by 
J. Nield, Esq. in 1812, entitled, «« The State of the Prisons 
in England, Scotland, and Wales.** By this it appears, that 
the London Committee have been so far misled, as to confide 
implicitly in the account published by Meld, grounded as' it 
was on observations made long ^rior to his publication; for 
not only are the remarks in the Report of the London Com- 
mittee the same as those of Nield*s, but the very language in 
which they are conveyed is precisely the same r — ^The consc^ 
quence of this is, that Uchester Gaol has been reported ac- 
cording to the state in which it was found at the time ^ 
Nield*s visit, and not according to its actual state at thepeliod 
of the visitation of the London Committee. 



That iki9 is reaQy the daae, a few teferences to both publi- 
ealtoM will ahundantly testify. 

The London Committee begin by saying, (p. iB$)^-*< The 
Gaol stands near the river, having a boundary wall round part 
of the building, with a vegetable garden inclosed.** Nield 
says (p. 287) precisely the same. The fact is, that the wait 
goes round the whole of the building, and there is no yegetablci 
garden whatever belonging to it ; but there was a yegetablo 
garden at the time of Nield*6 visit, though it has been sacri- 
ficed by the present Governor several years since, for the 
purpose of effecting those extensive and most important alter- 
ations, which have been in a g^eat measure the result of Ms 
own suggestions. 

Nield says, and the Committee say after him, that — on one 
side of the entrance there are warm and cold baths. There 
are no warm and cold baths. Large portable vessels, for the 
purposes of purification, are found better adapted to the pur- 
pose, and the baths have been long since removed. 

*^ The Governors house stands in the centre of the build- 
ing, but it has a very imperfect view of the different parts of 
the Gaol;; and through this house is the access to the chapel, 
tile seats of which are not properly divided off, so as to keep 
one description of prisoners from another.** Tlus is another 
error of the Committee's through copying Nield ; for in con- 
sequence of the alterations which have taken place since his 
Report, a very considerable part of the Prison is within the 
range of the Governor s eye from his house ; and such part of 
it as does not present itself from thence, is commanded by th^ 
Task Masters and Turnkeys lodges. The Matrons lodge 
commands the female wards. From the first story of the 
Grovemor's house, he has a direct communication with the 
greater part of the Prison ; the seats in the Chapel ate dirided 
off; the women are separated from and out of the view of the 
male prisoners by broad latUce-work, and are brought in by 
a private door immediately under the eye of the Governor and 



4i APPBKfiXX^ 

Chaplain; Iha Debtors hare t|ieir seats in ^ Galkry, tlie 
Felons below; and places are assigned to the diiferent. de- 
scriptions of Prisoners, who are also all properly classed and 
divided by lattice-work. An excellent choir, accompanied by 
sereral instruments, the performers bdng the Prisoners* 
assist in the religious services of the Chapel. The present 
arrangements of the Chapel have subsisted upwards of four 
years. 

The Report states, that *' there are several court-yarda, 
with conunodious arcades for the accommodation of Prisoners 
in wet weather.** The arcades here spoken of were certuniy 
to be found when Meld saw the Prison ; but they were remo- 
ved very soon after the present Governor* s appointment in 
1808, and the space they occupied has been very usefully and 
judiciously appropriated to day-rooms, and new wards, to fa- 
dlitate the classification of prisoners according to their degree 
of offence. The Report says, ** there are five court-yards**' 
There are siMeen court-yards. 

The Report says, " The Prisoners are permitted to play at 
Bfdls, and other pastimes, for the sake of exercijie.** This is 
wholly a mistake, no games whatever being allowed. 

" All the Prisoners*' (continues the Report) * - even those 
for the Sessions, are both ironed before and after trial.** This 
remark is also very incautiously made. Only Conricts and 
Felons are ironed. 

The Report says, '' The Womens Debtor s Court is sepa- 
rated from the Mens Felons* Court, by a dwarf wall and single 
iron palisades only, through which they can see and converse 
with each other.'* This is a most surprising error. The two 
Courts are at a considerable distance, separated by lofty walls, 
and as to '< a dwarf wall and iron palisades," there is nothing 
of the kind to be seen ! 

The Report says, << The Engine House for supplying the 
Prison mth water is in the garden." The Engine House cer-. 



AprENmx. 5 

Uiotf used to stand in this plaee, but long before the Gom- 
iiiiMiee's yiidt.. The finfpne House was then pulled down^ — 
*^ the Garden' was covered with flag stones, and ^e spot 
where the En^ne . House formerly stood, converted into an 
excellent laundry and store-rooms ! 

The extraordmary variance we have in the above-cited in- 
stances pointed out, between the statements made by tiie 
Committee and the facts as they are found to be, must be 
conclnsive against the adoption of the Report as an authentic 
document. To account for its errors is not perhaps very dif- 
ficult, when it is considered, that the whole lime devoted by 
the Committee to the inspection of this extensive Gaol, c&l 
not exceed one hour and an half! It is highly probable, there- 
fore, that having consulted Nield*s Book prior to their arri- 
val, and from which they could have had no idea of meeting 
with any circumstance worthy their attention in the Gaol, tiiey 
were not prepared to devote their time to its actual state. 
This we are the more inclined to believe, since we find that 
their dinner was ordered by the Committee at the Inn, withia 
a space of time, from the moment of leaving it, considerably 
too short to allow more than a very rapid perambulation of 
it. Not having time to make observations on the excellencies 
of its interior management, and finding nothing whatever to 
reprove, they appear to have been satisfied with what they 
saw, confiding in Nield's general accuracy to supply what- 
ever they might be deficient in particular detail. 
. Had the Committee been able in the prosecution of their 
object, to devote a more scrupulous attention to the regida- 
tions of Ilchester Gaol, had their time allowed them, by an 
inspection of the plans to be found there of its former state» 
to contrast it with its present condition, they would have had 
abundant reasons for believing that in tiie whole circidt of 
their visitation, there were very few, if any, Gaols to be found, 
wherein ike best^valned opinions on the subject of Prison dii- 



O APPEKPIX. 

cipBne ate 90 benefidiaHy ezempHfied as in that of Ikfaeaten 
To adapt it to this, they would have diseoYered that an on* 
common degree of attention, an enlightened zeal, and an nn- 
remitting perseTerance could alone ha?e rendered it ayaalable 
to its present purposes. They would have found a system of 
actiye and profitable industry pervading the Gaol, at once in 
part indeminfying the public for the expences it incurs, and 
what is still better, affording it a reasonable security against 
the repetition of crime, by the habits of sobriety, dUigenoct 
and useful labour, to which its objects are familiarized. 
Hiey would have seen handicraft trades practised with the 
akiU of superior workmanship, in the most useful varieties ^ 
and some of the higher branches of manufacture, exhibiting 
a perfection which might be envied by the owners of factories 
beyond the boundaries of a Gaol. They would have been in^ 
formed, that for the facilities of carrying on these occupa- 
tions, the interior of the Gaol has undergone so complete a 
local transformation, that it is now no more like what it was 
at the time when Nield described it, than it was at the time 
the London Committee saw it, like tiieir Report. Buildings 
have been pulled down, and new ones raised — sewers have 
been covered over, and the space which before was a nuisance* 
added to the interior convenience of the Gaol. Workshops 
have been erected, and duly provided with implements of and 
articles for manufacture. The wards properly divided — 
court-yards paved and walled — sleeping rooms healtbfullji 
built, securely contrived, and properly provided. In short, 
a system of management and a subordination of government 
throughout, which has been the result only of the most anx-^ 
tons solicitude for the promotion of the ends of public jus^ 
tice, combined with the most consistent regard for the welfare 
of the unhappy individuals consigned within its walls. 
Even these are not denied the means of redress* should they 
experience improper treatsncoit, for which, purpose large 
printed notices are affixed in every chamber of the Prison, 



pointiiig oat tlie mode of proceecKn§^, should any case of com-> 
plunt arise. The Committee might have heen informed, and 
have actually witnessed all this, and much more, to challenge 
approbation, had their enquiries been less succinct, and had 
their visit not been limited to the very inadequate period of 
an hour and an half. 

The Grovemor of this Ctaol in a notice of its improvements, 
necessarily presents himself to attention. The County Ma- 
gistrates have it is true, done themselves infinite honour by 
their unceasing exertions to render the different Gaols as 
perfect as their respectiive capabilities will admit, and adnura- 
bly successful they have unquestionably been. Much, how« 
ever, of the improvement which has taken place, owes its a-* 
doption to the conduct of the present Governor of Ilchester 
Gaol, who by his skilful suggestions and vigilant supermten- 
dance has been of very important service in bringing the 
Prison into its present highly improved condition. The 
buildings which have been erected by the Prisoners under his 
sole and unassisted direction, without any professional inter- 
ference, display even a superiority of architecture over other 
parts of the Gaol in which the labours of regular workmen 
have been employed; and the avidity' with which he has 
seized on temporary opportunities of obtaining instruction for 
the Prisoners in their various branches of industry, shews 
how properly he appreciates the duties of his appointment.—- 
His reputation as a humane, active, and meritorious officer is 
indeed universally acknowledged. 

The commendation bestowed by Mr. Justice Park, upon 
the system adopted in this Gaol, at the last Assizes for this 
County, induced the Ma^strates of Norfolk to apply to Mr. 
Bridle, the Governor, for information as to the employment 
of the Prisoners. The letter inserted in our last numbeT was 
the answer to that application, and the following is the addi- 
tional correspondence that took place on the occasion :^ — 



I 

L 



8 APPEKBIX. 

1>I<^ ^om IF. Simptans Esq. Treaturer of the County of 
Norfolk^ to the Governor of Ikhester Oaolj dated Norwkhf 
Sept, 28M, 1S16. 

«' Sir, 

^' I laidyouradnurableletter before the Onniiuttee of Magis- 
trates for reguladng the County Gaol, idiich met this day, 
and I am directed by them to acq(aunt yoa» that they were 
much gratified at the perusal of it» as well as by the interesting 
Information which it contained, and I have to express to youtbeir 
thanks for the same. As it is the intention of the Gonmuttee 
to lay your letter before the next Sessions, I request that yo)i 
will send me per coach, the pattern of your manufacturefl, 
which you offered me previous to the Sessions, when very pro- 
bably I shall trouble you again." 

Letter from Mr. W. Bridle, Governor of Ikhester GaoJ, to W, 
Simpson, Esq. dated Oct. 2nd, 1816* 

" Sir, 

* * I haye receired your favour of the 28th ult. and as required 
therein, I forward you per first coach, patterns as samples of 
our manufactures here. 

No. 1. Linsey made from the raw materials, of which male 
prisoners in the House of Correction and Bridewells ai« 
cloathed. 

No. 2. linsey made in like manner, of which all female 
prisoners in this Gaol, and House of Correction and Bridewells 
are cloathed. 

No. 3. Dowlas made from yam spun at a neighbouring 
manufactory, and supplied by the work in this Gaol, in ready 
made garments, to the Bridewells in this county. 

No. 4. Dowlas made in like manner, for the House of 
Correction here. 

No. 5. Ticking made in like maimer for beds, mattressei» 

ke. for this Gaol and House of Correction and the Bridewells. 

No. 6. 



APPENDIX. 9 

No. 6. Pattern of a stocking made from the raw materials, 
worn by all prisoners in .the House of Correction here, and in 
the Bridewells. 

No. 7. Cap made in like manner, and worn by all male 
prisoners in the House of Correction and Bridewells. 

A white cotton mght cap. Two cotton doileys. - 

^' It is intended to extend our manufactures, and to make the 
Dowlas, Ticking", &c. from raw materials, as soon as the 
necessary arrangements can be made. The night cap and 
doileys are a species of labour introduced for the employment 
of boys, and was with gloves, mits, &c. made for sale. The 
number of hands employed in the present building, obliges us 
to suspend this branch of manufacture for a time. I ^hall 
with pleasure attend to any further communication you may 
please to favour me with. 

/' P. S. I am not aware that a choir of singers formed entirely 
of prisoners are to be found in Gaols generally, some I know 
BtAg the Morning and Evening Hymn, but by the assistance of 
the Magistrates who have from a private fund given me books 
and instruments, I have been enabled to raise a choir superior 
jto most in the county. Tlie Services, Psalms, and Anthems, 
in fiiU choir, are reg^ularly sung, fitting the subject to the day; 
if tt happens that an imfortunate creature is left to suffer the 
sentence of the law, the subject is taken from some solemn 
verse suitable to the occasion, than which nothing operates 
stronger on the feelings of the congregation, or rouses the 
mind of the unhappy sufferer to a sense of his approaching 
fate. W. B." 

From W. Simpson, Esq, to the Governor j dated Norwich ^ 

Oct. nth, 1816. 
" Sir, 

'* The patterns came safe to hand, and the Magistrates are 
obliged to you for them, they will be kid befpre our Sessions 
•n Thursday next. Do me the favour of informing me previous 



10 APPENDIX. 

to that day, the sale price of such of the articles as are sold, 
and the cost price of those made for your own consumption " 

From the Governor to W. Simpson, Egq^ dated Ikhester Croo/, 

Oct. l^h, 1816^ 
*• Sir, 

*' In my description of the patterns sent you of our manufac- 
tures, I stated the making of caps, gloves, &c. to hare heen 
mtroduced for the employment of hoy», and that it was found 
necessary for a time to suspend this hranch of manufacture 
during the completion of certain huildings going on in the Gaol 
hy prison lahour, the sale of these articles has not therefore 
been v«ry extensive, the prices of those sold are caps. Is. 6d. 
tp 2s.— doileys. Is. 6d. — gloves^ mits, &c.lOd. to Is. 6d. The 
principal article of our manufacture for sale are shoes, which 
have been sold from one to fourteen shillings per pair. AQ the 
other articles of which I sent you patterns^ are for the eon- 
sumption of the Gaol establishment, and are valued at 8s. 0|d. 
per yard, Linsey 3*quarters wide, for men's and women's 
dresses; botii patterns of Dowlas, Is. 4d. per yard; Worsted, 
2s. 11^. per pound; Stockings, 2s. 5^d. per pair; andTidoBg 
3-quarters wide. Is. 2|d. per yard, on all of which we ex- 
perience a great public saving. — Our manufactures are hi 
general in an infant state, and that accounts for nothing baring 
been yet manufactured by the looms for sale.*' 

From W, Simpson, Esq. to the Governor, dated Norwich, 

Oct. 29rd, 1816. 
" Sir, 

" Your letters and patterns, were laid before a numerous 
Bench of Magistrates at our Sessions last week, and received 
the highest approbation ; and in consequence, it was directed 
that Mr. Johnson, our gaoler, should proceed to Ilchester, for 
the purpose of examining the manufactories, and of obtaining 
from you all necessary information, and he expects to be witfe 
you on Tuesday or Wednesday next. " 



APPENDIX. 1 1 

(B.) 

•omwel^ \ At the General Quarter Session of the Peace of 

ITO WIT. J J 

our Lord the King^ held at the Castle of Taunton^ 
in and for the County of Somerset j on Monday 
the Nineteenth Day of October 9 in the Fifty' 
eighth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord 
GfiOReB the Thirds by the Grace of God of the 
United Kingdom of GreeU Britain and Irekmdf 
Kingi Defender of the Faith, and in the Year of 
our Lord, 1818, before Sir John Palmer Acland, 
Sir John Coxe Hippisley, Baronets, and others 
their Companionsy Justices of our stdd Lord the 
King J assigned to keep the Peace of our said 
Lord the King 9 in and for the County ofSomer*^ 
set aforesaidy and also to hear and determine 
divers Fehmes, Trespasses, and other MisdemeO" 
nors committed in the said County. 

Ordbr^d^ That Three Dark Blue Cloths* he 
manufactured by the Prisoners in the Gaol at 
Ivekhester, for the Tables in the Crown and NiH 
Prius Courts, and Grand Jury Room, in the 
Taunton Assize HaU, 

By the Court, 

COLES, Clerk of the Peace. 



(C.) 

The following are Copies of a few, amongst the host of 
Ijetters received by me from different Ma^strates of other 

* These Cloths were manufactured accordingly, and the excellence 
of their texture and beauty of material, excited the admiration and 
surprize of every one. They are still in existence and ipeak for 
themselves. 



IS APPENDIX. 

Countiet. Thej will, at least, serve to shew, that my 
of governance was held in general estimation. 

From J. T. Price, Esq. 

<* Neath Ahhey, 17 th llmo. 1818. 
« Esteemed Friend, 

'* The gratification and instruction I received when I lately 
ran through your Gaol at Uchester, encouraged me on my 
way through Cardiff the following day, to visit the County 
Gaol there, and to make notes of the qualification, &c. of each 
Prisoner, in order to enable me to judge and to report to the 
Superintending Committee of Magistrates, what kind of em- 
ployments, and what course of proceeding had best to be 
adopted in order to establish industrious and moral habits in 
the. persons so unhappily becoming the objects for imprison- 
ment. The investigation I made, has quite convinced me that 
the object may be easily accomplished by going properly to 
work. I had an interview with one of the most active Magis- 
trates after, my visit to. the Gaol, and since that a Letter from 
him, as the organ of the Committee which met three or four 
days since. 

'^ They have come to the conclusion, to obtun fresh and 
more full powers from the next Quarter Sessions of this 
County, powers by which they may be enabled to alter, 
amend, and add buildings, such as may be necessary; and to 
obtain such an Assistant as may be required. Mean time, I 
take the liberty to solicit from thee some further informatiou 
for our assistance. 

'* I will in the first place state, that the present Gaoler is far 
advanced in years, and has not been accustomed to the thing 
now aimed at, employing and in instructing the Prisoners; 
ftnd I have my fears, that it will ultimately be found, that he 
is not quite up to it, although he is very willing to do all he 
can* I wish to query. Whether thou thinks a Task Master 



APvEBsrmx. 13 

c o t nj p elcil t to undevtake the .trhole departoient of empilojfing 
and instructing," and extending .towards the Prisoners, that 
kind of care, which has a tendency to correct ^ can he ohtained? 
He would hayein great measure to devise the sort of employ, 
to see the work performed, and as far as practicahle, to assist 
in the ctispos'al or otherwise, of any commodity then prepared, 
80 that the uouiertiaking might, in a pecuniary point of view, 
not hecome hurthensOme to the County. And if such an one 
could he had, whether thou knows of one. thou canst recom- 
mend, and what pecuniary compensation would be elcpected?; 

^* 2dly. Whether thou thinks an active, intelligent, and com- 
petent Person might not be had to fill the office of Gaoler, and 
see the' work performed as -well with the . assistance of his 
Turnkey^ who might, perhaps^ act as Task Master as well, in 
a small Gaol where only from- tlurty to forty prisoners . are 
'confined? 

** 3dly. What plan is adopted and best to be adopted, for 
adjudging the value of Prisoners* labour, and in what propor- 
tion are they rewarded, and what proportion is best to be al- 
'lotted for their benefit in any new institution? 

** 4thly. What daily allowance, and the kind of provision is 
found sufficient and proper? 

" Other queries may arise, which I may hereafter take the 
liberty of proposing, if I am not likely to be too troublesome. 
The favour of a reply to this, ever will oblige 

** Thine sincerely, 

*' JosBPH Price.** 

From Walter Coffin, Esq. 

" Landaff Courts Cardiff, Jan. 16, 1819. 
** Sir, 

** Mr. Joseph T. Pricj, of Neath Abbey, has laid before the 
Visiting Committee of the <llamorganshirc County Gaol, your 



14 AnPBHOIX. 

lietfeer «f the 84th of Noyember ; as one of tiial CoaarittM 
aUow me to ihkak you for the Taluable mfonnatioii it eontainB, 
and on the behalf of the remaining part of it, to avail ouraeiTefi 
of the assistance you so kindly offer. I will at once put you in 
posiesaion of our present situation^ and then it will be in your 
power to inform me whether you are in a situation to recom- 
mend us a Keeper for our GaoL Mr. Prioe has already in<. 
fonaed you of the number of prisonera, &c. 

** We came to a resolution this week at our Quarter Ses- 
sions, that t^ new High Sheriff should be requested to confer 
with the Graol Committee, on the appointment of a New 
Gaoler ; and that the Committee should have power,- in case 
Ihey should be satisfied with the Gacder, to engage him a Sa- 
lary not exceeding 200/. per annum. 20/. a year is now al- 
^wed the Gaoler for paying » Turnkey of his own appoint- 
ment, in addition to his salary of 140/. But I hare too doubt, 
that on the recommendation of the Committee, the Court will 
uUow the New Gaoler, in addition to his salary, 50/. for a 
Turnkey, to be appointed by himself, provided the Committee 
are always satisfied with the conduct of such Turnkey. There 
tare accononodations in the Prison for both the Turnkey and 
Crovemor. 

** We wish to be prepared with a Governor to replace the 
«ld one, immecUately on the change of Sheriffs ; for we have 
no reason to expect (the old one being discharged for rather 
unpleasant circumstances to himself) that he will stay a day 
longer than his time, to accommodate us. Unfortunately our 
Debtors are confined in the same Gaol with the Criminals, 
which makes it an indispensable requisite, that the Gaoler 
should g^ve the Sheriff security for 3000/. This you will be 
so good as always to keep in mind. The risk is small, in- 
defed, for we have scarcely any Debtors but those who almost 
voluntarily come there for the benefit of the Insolvent Act. — 
You see, we wanjb a Governor and his Assistant, who are both 
competent and willing to introduce and carry into effect, the 



APPENDIX. 15 

litew I^son Discipline) and above all, the employment of tiiC' 
Prisoners* I beg the favour of an answer at your earliest^ 
convenience. 

** I am. Sir, your obedient Servant, 

" Walter Copfii?.*' 



From Walter Coffin, Esq. 

** Landaff Court, January 31, 1819. 
" Sir, 

*^ I am favoured ^dth your Letter of the 22d, and as yes- 
terday was the first day I had an opportunity of laying it before 
the rest of the Committee for \^siting the County Gaol, I 
could not sooner have given you any decided answer. 

*M am requested by the Committee to offer you their best 

thanks for your great readiness in forwarding their views, and 

to. assure you, from every account they hear of the state oiT 

your Prison, that no one*9 recommendation would, with them, 

stand higher than your own ; but from a circumstance that 

took place yesterday, it will not be in their power to avail 

themselves of it. 

'* I beg to remain. Sir, 

" Your obedient Servant, 

" Walter Coffin." 



From H. Leach, Esq. 

'< Milfwd, Pembrokeshire, April 17, 1819. 

" Sir, 

<' The services which you have rendered the County of 

Somerset, and the Kingdom in general, by the example you 

hare set of the practical application of those principles of 

Prison Kscipline, to which mankind have at length began to 



16 APPBN0IZ. 

open their eyes» renders it, I am quite sure, uimecesstfj for 
me to apolopze for addressing you. 

' * We are building a new prison and entirely new n^odelling the 
old one, for the purposes of a House of Correction, under tiie 
direction of a Committee of Magistrates, of which I have the 
honour to be Chairman. I have now before me a rough draft of 
rules and regulations for its future government, and to assist 
me in their formation, I shall be much obliged if you will do 
me the favour to send me in a parcel by the coach, a copy of 
yours, which I take it for granted are printed — 'Be so good 
also to let me know the exact quantity and quality of food 
given to the different classes — Have you a mill for grinding 
com and malt, and to the work of how many is it adapted*- 
Where did you get the Iron Bedsteads, of what description are 
they, and what price can they be procured for, are they cast 
iron, or wrought, and are they altogether, or composed of 
different pieces to be put together. I am very anxious to see 
your prison, and shall if possible endeavour to do so this Sum- 
mer. Pray are there any coaches which pass through Uchester 
from Bath or Bristol, or both, and what days ? 

" I shall feel very much obliged by your favouring me with a 
Letter as early as possible, as I am about to leave home on a 
journey. 

'' I have the honour to be. Sir, 

** Your faithful and obedient Servant, 

" H. Lbach." 



'* Please to direct H. Leach, 
MiUbid, South Wales." 

« 

" P. S. Do not wait to send a letter with the parcel con- 
taining the regulations, as that may be detained." 



I 



From 



APPENDIX. 17 

FHOM TRB HONOURABLB D. P. BOUVEHIB. 

" The House ef Correction^ Devizes^Jan. 7, 1820. 

** Haying been much gratified at the latter part of last 
Summer hy the examination of the Prison under your care, 
every part of which you shewed me^ I trouble you with this 
Letter to request that you would have the kindness to send me 
the Copy of a Sheet of each of the Books, in which your 
accounts with the prisoners is kept. I am one of the Visiting 
Magpistrates of this Prison, and we want the Paper I have 
requested you to send us, as a guide for the putting our own 
accounts on a better footing than they have hitherto been. 
If you will take care the weight of your Letter does not 
exceed an ounce, I should be obliged to you to put your Letter 
imder a cover to E. G. Estcourt, Esq. Devizes. 

'* I am^ your obedient Servant, 

<< D. Plbtdbll Bouvbrib.** 



From the Honourable D. P. Bovvbrie. 

^* TheHomeofCorrectwn^ Devizes 9 Jan. 15, 182,0. 
" Sir, 

^' I beg leave to thank you for your Letter, and the Copy 
of those parts of your Books wh|ch I had requested of you; 
we have found it of great use in arranging our books for keep- 
ing accounts of the Prisoners* earnings as you do, which 
method we have just been adopting. 

*' I am your obedient Servant, 

" D. PliBTDELL BOUVBRIB." 



18 APFENDIXt 

Tt» following Notes were handed to me in suecessioir^ hj 
the principal turnkey, Pike ; addressed to me, and written by 
James Innis, who had heen a yery respectable young mani (a 
resident of Bath) hut who was committed to Gaol for Forgery. 

Innis was subsequently transported to Botany Bay; but | 
must record, that through his instrumentaUty, one of the most 
.daring and diabolical Plots ever entered into by the prisoners, 
was made known and frustrated. It may be some consolaldoo 
to the friends of this unhappy young man, to know, that dsh 
ring his residence in Bchester Gaol, his conduct was orderly* 
and excellent. Under his peculiar circumstances^ I bad up 
other power of rewarding him, save that of recommending him 
|o the Officers of the Colony, he was about to be consigned to; 
and I haye but little doubt tl^at he will erQ long become 9 
valuable and respectable member of society. 

** Sir, Sunday Morning, 

" The unremitted attention that I have received during my 
confinement under your charge, lays me under an indispensable 
necessity of informing you that a very unpleasant stratagem is 
purposed to be put into execution about Chapel time. The 
suspicion that they have of my stability, obliges me to defer a 
'detail at this time, but I can only say, that the question has 
heen put to me whether I will assist or no, A communication 
has been carried on from both yards on the subject. I trust 
that you wiH not give up your author, 

*• I am, Sir, Yours, &c. 

" J. InniSr" 

^' I presume that you surmise to what I allude." 



* ^* The plot is defferfed unlal to-morrow evening, atloctdng- 
Qp time, to embraee the opportunity of Mr. Bridle's absence 
at the Sessions. The whole gang are to go up with the first lot, 
and lock your officers in the cells, and proceed accordingly.*' 



*^ It h not, I assui'e you, from any motive of extricating 
myself that I have made this confession, but my principles 
would not admit of my acting otherwise. The circumstances 
Attending the case ar^ simply these : A few days ago, I 
obtained the perusal of a Note that was thrown over from the 
l^elons' Ward, and which was much to the following effect: 
* There are a few true Englishmen among us, that will stick to 
it, and the sooner the better ; for we be damn'd if we don t try 
for our liberty.* After which I heard nothing further until 
this morning, (with the exceptioii of a few hints,) when I was 
asked if I would join in fighting our way out of the Gaol ; for 
that during Chapel, they would jump up, and accost your 
Officers m the following manner. ' Now, you bloody B  o . 
Death or liberty.' That they should take the keys away 
from you, and lock the Officers, &c» in the Chapel, then assist 
one another in knocking off their irons; cut the rope of the 
alarm-bell, and make their escape as quick as possible; but 
owing to some occurrence they have deferred it until to-morrow 
night, as I have already stated ; but, God knows, if they wUl 
put it in execution ;^ yet it is my candid opinion from their 
being so determined, that the attempt will be made some tii^e 
or other. Their time is now entirely taken up cm the subject* 
I have no objections to confess what I have sud before the 
men themselves, if required, and provided I have a fair 
opportunity ; but my reason for being so tenacious at this 
time is, that provided they have any suspicion of my giving 
you this information, is , that they ndght revenge their spite 
before I can be rendered any assistance ; for what should I be 
among such a parcel of ruffians. The pHneipal ernes idt thift 
Ward, are Portsmouth and Scaly." 



90 VPINOXX. 

** I liate been inforined that in eonseqnenoe of a few Ami' 
en, they will wait till they can obtain a supply of Trumjps^ 
Tou may, however, depend on my giving you every informa- 
tion as Boon as any change takes place.** 



The following Note was found in the Female Ward, having^ 
been thrown from the Ward occupied by the Convicts about to 
break Gaol. 

" we want to knaw haw the woman came of that went to 
Mr Hunt yesterday far we think she will have something done 
for her dont send any answer far there are so many Spliters 
here without you can find some way t^at will do Hunt far ever 
Hunt far ever Hunt far ever" 

(E.) 

MAGISTRATES' JOURNAL, 

April 6th, 1820. 
Prbsbnt, 

JOHN GOODFORD, Esq. AARON MOODY, Esq. 

And Others. 

^ ** Parts of the Prison on inspection, appearing to be in a 
disordered and unclean state, the Governor was remonstrated 
with on account thereof ; who imputes the neglect to the Task 
Master, he himself having been absent at the Assizes. The 
Task Master was admonished accordingly, and the Governor 
particularly cautioned to guard against a recurrence of a like 
nature, the health of tihe Prisoners so much depending upon 
OeanUness." 

' Such is the only 6ntry in the Magistrates* Journal, at all 
reflecting on the Cleanliness and Order of the Prison ; and I 
must confess, when I first discovered such an entry had abso- 
lutely been made, I was much astonished. Be it understood, 
I had informed the Magistrates of my having been absent from 



AFPfiN0IX« SI 

the Gaol twelve days on duty, and was but just returned. I« 
was, therefore, the more hurt that they should thus aiffix in 
their Journal, a stigma upon me. 

And now let me describe the Uncleanliness and Disorder of 
which they comphdned. . A Pair of Small-clothes was seen 
lying on the Bed of a Misdemeanor Prisoner, and the Beds in 
the Female Debtors Ward , had not been rolled up ! 

By the bye, the Ma^strates were guilty of a slight lapse 
with regard to the last-mentioned part, in considering the 
Female s Beds not being rolled up, a proof of disorder. There 
were no Orders that they should be. It would have been a 
breach of common decorum to ^ve such Orders with respect 
to their Beds. They had never been rolled up, nor are they 
roUed up to the present day. 

I was for a long time at a loss how to account for this act 
of unmerited severity; but at length I discovered, one of the 
Magistrates who dictated and caused this famous entry, was 
offended with me, because he had been told^ I had laughed at 
his personal deformity ! 

I can only regret that he did not follow a more^manly and 
just procedure. Had he questioned me. on the subject^ I 
could have proved I had been belied— then he would *ave 
acted mt\i justice. As it is, let the world judge him* 



By the bye, I had recommended some Prisoners as deser- 
ving of remission of their sentences, and it so happened, that 
they received their pardons shortly before I quitted the GaoL 
Hunt immediately takes upon himself the credit of this act, 
and has the impudence to tell the world, that they were par- 
doned at his suggestion. An Independant Freeholder of the 
County of Somerset, seeing this circumstance related hi one 
of the Bath Papers, and doubting its truth, enquired of some 



of the Ma^f rales into the matter, and pnl^slied the follow- 
itig true relatioii, in the Bath and Oieltenham Gazette of tMe 
18th December, 1821. 

To tlie Editor of the Bath and Cheltenham Gazette. 

Sir, — ^The Bath Journal of the 10th inst. haying given to 
the world the following singular statement, the truth of which 
I coidd not for one moment bring myself to believe, it being 
as monstrous as it is impudent ; and well knowing that nei- 
ther the learned Baron (Graham) nor the Noble Lord at the 
head of the Home Department, wocdd condeseend to contra- 
diet- so gross anr outrage upon decency and probability. As a 
Freeholder of Somerset, and an Englishman enjoying the pro- 
teelion of the laws of my country, I applied by Letter to se- 
veral Magistrates of this County, for an explanAti»n of the 
faet ; ^ad my inquiries have proved that the assertion con- 
tained in the statement in question, is as false as it is bare- 
faced. I shall first quote the Paragraph, and then prove its 
fabehood, by subjoining a Copy of an Official Document, 
signed by " William Hamilton," the Under SecreUry to the 
Lords Justices, during the absence of His Majesty. The 
Paragraph runs thjis ; 

^^ In consequence of a letter which Mr. Hunt addressed 
'* to Baron Graham, pardons, and remission of sentences, 
*^ have been sent down to six convicts, whose cases he stated 
•* to the worthy Judge. Of these, five were of the number 
•* of his witnesses." 
The Letter of Mr. Hamilton, which flatly contradicts this 
^ statement, is as follows : 

Gentlemen, . Whitehall, 11 Oct. 1821. 

Lord Sidmouth having hdd he/ote the Lords Justices if our 
^^^Her of the 24th ultimo ^ aceompamed with a list ofmak wtd 



frnwik trfimtporte now m ike Gwil of lUhgHer, tcmtou^ 
qmint y^u that their Ea^ceUendes have^ upen due consider^' 
aUonofall t1^ circunutances of the respective cases oftJie con^^ 
victs in question^ been pleased to order Hannah Adams^ Jcuiob 
P^ne, Robert GibbSf and Robert Steele, to be free pardoned. 

I have the honour to be. Gentlemen, 

Your most obedient humble Servant, 

WILLIAM HAMILTON. 

To the Visiting MaguEtrates of the Gaol at Ikhester. 

i am, Sir, &t. J. T. HILL. 

Bath, Dec* 17* 

63" In the Paragraph above adverted to, we likewise read 
as follows : 

" The fonawing facts afford a striking proof of the benefit 
accruing to the CJounty of Somerset, from the late invesliga- 
lion:— The amount of the whole Rates coUeeted for the 
Quarter hefore Mr. Hunt's " Peep" came out, was 7229f. 
3«. 5|(f.; the Quarter after the " Peep*' was published, it 
fell to 5408Z. 10*. M. ; and on the first Quarter after the in- 
vestigation was ended, the amount was reduced to 2162/. 
16*. lOrf.'* 

The credit due to this statement, says the Taunton Courier, 
will be duly estimated by the following facts : 

^' The amount of Rates ordered at the Michaelmas Session, 
1820, and payable at the Epiphany Session, 1821, was 7029/. 
4». 8|(?. The amount of Rates ordered at the Epiphany Ses- 
sion, 1821, and payable at the Easter Session following, was 
5407?. 2«. \d. The difference between the sum ordered at the 
Michaelmas Session, 1820, and the following Epiphany Ses- 
sion, is amply accounted for by the Assizes happening between 
the two Sessions, when very heavy sums were necessarily 
expended for the prosecution of Felons, and for their convey- 



/ 



84 Af PfiKMX • 

anoe from the three prisons, in the county to the Assize town 
(a distance of many miles,) and for their conyeyance back 
again after trial. As the reduced Bate of 5407^ 2«. Id, was 
ordered before the publication of the ^' Peep," it haying been 
ordered at the Epiphany Session, 1821, the Rate could have 
had no reference whateyer to it, or to the late inyestigation at 
Ilchester Gaol." 

This statement from its unfortunately happening to be true, 
drew down upon the writer some of Hunt's usual ribaldry, 
published in the Bath Journal, the same paper that contained 
Hunt*s preyious falsehood. It was howeyer useless, and who- 
eyer Mr. J. T. Hill is, (I haye not the pleasure of knowmg 
him,) I thank him for becoming the means of exposing one 
more of Hunt's falsehoods. 

(G.) 

The escape of the Person alluded to, took place under the 
following circumstances : 

His name was Edward Ball, and he had been committed to 
the Craol for stealing poultry. This man was among the first 
infected with T^P^^^ Feyer, when it made its appearance m 
1817) and my readers will, recollect, that when I found the 
contagion rapidly spreading, I posted away to the Chairman 
of the Quarter Sessions, for instructions, as related in chapter 
the ninth. During my absence, he became much worse, and 
was remoyed to the Temporary Hospital, just established in 
the Manufactory. By order of the Surgeon, his door and 
windows were left open to admit of free yentilation, night 
and day. He took adyantage of the circumstance,, and ill as 
he was, effectually made his escape. The whole occurrence 
took place in my absence. 



(H.) 



(H.) 

On Mference to my papers, I find, that between July, 
1808, and November, 1821, I have conducted the numbers 
hereunder stated, to their trials, viz. 

To and from Wells 1221 

Taunton 1650 

Bridgewater .... 858 

The distance from the Gaol to these Towns respectiyely, is 

To Wells 18 miles. 

Taunton .... 24nules. 
Bridgewater . . 24 nules. 

I have, therefore, rode with these Prisoners, calculated as 
one man, 82,170 miles t 

I must add, that not one penny expence was ever entailed 
by me upon the County, over and above the mileage fixed and 
allowed me by the first Order, made on my assuming the 
Keepership In July, 1808. 



d) 

IN THV king's BBNCH. 

The Affidamt ^the Prisoner 9 Hbnrt Hunt, noom > 

November 17 9 1880. 

*' That on the 15th May last) D^nent was sentenced by 
this Ck>urt to be imprisoned in llchester Gaol for Two Years 
and Six Months; when upon Deponent's inquiring of Mr. 
Justice Bailey, what was to be the nature of his imprison- 
ment, and whether it was to be solitary, the learned Judge 

E 



3^ APPENDIX. 

in reply, intimated, that the Court made no such Order; ne}-* 
ther had the Court any intention of inflicting any farther pu-* 
lushment thaa that of safe custody. ^ And the learned Judge 
emphatically added, that if the. Deponent should have any 
reason to complun of his treatment, that an application to 
the Court would he attended to. 

^* That on Deponent*s arrival at the Gaol on the 17th day 
of May, at ten o*clock at mght, he Was placed hy the Gaoler 
in a cold, damp Ward or Cell, with two Prisoners* habited in 
the Oaol dressj where there were three straw hags placed 
upon three Gaol trucks, one of which was pointed out hy the 
Gaoler as the place of rest for Deponent. 

" That for the first fortnight, Deponent was allowed neither 
fire-iroiis nor fender. That iot seven weeks, he was confined 
within the pestilential waUs of a small yard, ahout ten yards 
square, which materially affected the health of Deponent, the 
effects of which he still feels. 



* By his own publication of the Evidence lately adduced before the 
Commissioners, he convicts himself of perjury : 

*' John Wyatt cross-exammed hy Hunt" 
« Do you recollect our first meeting?"-** Yes, perfectly well.' 
<* What was the other Prisoner's name who was present!"— « 

« Eniery.' 
** Were you two standing in the bed-room in a Gaol dress?"—* 

* Emery had no Gaol dresSy I had,* 

ftde the Evidence pubUsked for thmt^ hy Dolby, p, 225. 

It most be needless, indeed, for me to point out all the falsehoods 
of the wretched Orator. They are so glaring, that no comment is 
.required*i-{br his perjury in regard to his bed and ward, see my owa 
AAdaTit, Chapter X. 



APPENDIX J 27 

*' That during this time, liis Friends were excluded except 
at three separate hours of the day, and not allowed to see him 
at all after four o'clock in the afternoon. 

'< That in consequence of this prohibition, Deponent suf- 
fered great pecuniary losses, his affiurs being left in a yery 
deranged state ; Deponent not having expected that any sen- 
tence of imprisonment would have been passed upon him. 

" That on the 6th of July, a body of Magistrates attended 
what is called the Gaol Sessions, held in the Prison ; and 
they made an Order after consulting the Keeper of the (xapl, 
that the Friends of Deponent should be admitted to see him 
in his Ward from nin^ o'clock in the monung till sun-set, 
with which Order, Deponent expressed himself perfectly sa- 
tisfied. This regulation continued to be put in force to the 
mutual satisfaction of Deponent, the Visiting Magistrates, 
Aaron Moody, Esq. and the Rev. Dr. Colston, as well as the 
Keeper of the Gaol and all his Officers, till the 14th August? 
when, as Deponent is informed and verily believes, upon the* 
suggestion of Francis Drake, Esq, of Wells, who is a Magis- 
trate of the County, and one of the Grand Jury at the Assizes, 
an Order was made (without any reason being assigned, and 
without there being any sufficient cause) to exclude all Female 
Visitors from the Ward of the said Deponent, tod they should 
only be pemdtted to see him at the double grating, at the 
same time and place where felons, convicts, and prisoners, 
charged with and convicted of unnatural crimes, beastiaMty, 
and murder, see and meet their associates. In conseqacnce 
of this harsh and unnecessarily cruel treatment. Deponent's 
family consisting of two Females, one of them Deponent's 
Ward, who had come to Ilchester from London to see hinsy 
was locked out of the Gaol without any notice being given to 
them or Deponent, or any cause assigned for the same ; and 
in the most brutal and savage manner, they were refusect 



fg AFPEKDIX^ 

aoGMs to Depoii«it» who was aever eyen pmutted (oaoe 
them to take leave of them. • . . 

** That since that lime, Deponent has beien treated in the 
lAoat cruel manner; and amongst other things, he has been 
frequently locked up for hours together in his dungeon, in so* 
litary confinement in the day lime. In c(>|iscquence of this 
treatment, De[ponent not only sii^ered great mental tor-^ 
ture and bodily injury, but he has sustained great pecuniary 
losses, by being thift deprived of all commumcatibn in person 
with his family, who have the sole care and management of 
the little remaining part of his property that he has saved 
from the ravages and wreck of his fortune, occasioned by the 
persecutions he has endured ; thus inflicting on Deponent, a 
pumsbment much more nunous than any fine the Court could 
have imposed. 

** That Dq)onent*s Ward, who is solely dependant on him 
for protection and support, became at this time, by the death 
of her grandmother, entitled to certun Estates in Ireland, of 
the yearly value of 800/. and upwards, which was bequeathed 
her by the will of her grandfather ; and she having received a 
letter from her late relation s agent, stating, that the said 
]^tate^ were cfeized and usurped by a Person in no way enti- 
tled to them, . she came to Uchester with her deeds, and pa- 
pers, and the wills of her late mother and grandfather, in 
o^r to consult and advise with Deponent, how to prooepd SQ 
as to countpraot such illegal proceedings* Yet although De- 
ponent informed the s^d Visiting Magistrates of this fact, she 
was not permitted to have access to him. In consequence of 
such cruel treatment. Deponent's Ward has already suffered, 
and will ultimately suffer great pecuniary loss, as the trouble^ 
difficulty, and expence in recovering the said Estates will be 
greatly increased for want of timely proceedings, which were 
wholly prevented by the unjust, cruel, and unnecessary prohi- 



APPUrmx* !f9 

bMkm of 1ii6 '^tU FcfmUo' Mliiolr 'fron Bocinif end cobBdMbi^ 
Deponent^ her sole goardiin and protector. 



'^ Thatly an Order made at the kte Sessions at Taunton^ 
purporting to he an Order of Sessions, with the consent and 
approbation of the Sheriff of the County, all Female "Vmton 
are still excluded from yisiting Deponent, hut it is left by said 
Order to the discretion of the Visiting Ma^strates, or the 
Sheriff, to admit Females, if they think proper, upon an 
application being made to them, for that purpose. Where- 
upon Deponent applied to the Visiting Magistrates, Mr* 
Goodford, of Yeovil, and the Rey. Mr, Whalley, of Yeovilton, 
to permit his Family to visit Mm at the same hour that 
Deponent's Male Friends are admitted tb see him, Sn case they 
should come t6 Dchester fbr a week or a fortni^^t ; which Is 
between the houi^ of 9 o'clock in the morning, and 4 in the 
afternoon; but which reasonable request, iras peremptorify 
refused by the said Mr. Croodford, and the Rey. Mr, Whalley^ 
although the Keeper of the Prison, Mr. William Bridle, iin^ 
equivocally declared to the said Visiting Magistrates,, that h^ 
had not the alightest cause of complaint to make 4guns$ 
Deponent. 

* * That Deponent never violated any of the Rules and Regula- 
tions lud down for him by the said Magistrates, nor has there 
ever been any complaint made against Deponent. And that 
when Deponent's Family and Friends visited him, they never 
vidated.any of the Rules and Regulations of the Gaol, but 
conducted thenkselves with the strictest propriety, and never 
causikl the slightest trouble or inconvenience, either to the 
said Keeper or his Officer^, as he dedared to the said Magis- 
trates, and the said Mr. Bridle farther declared to the said Ma- 
gistrates, that by Deponent's Family and Female Friends visiting 
Deponent, the safe custody of his person would not be in tiie 
remotest degree endangered. 



30 APPEiroix. 

^* Dtoponent nnwilliiig to troaUe Hub Courty while theitt 
was any probability of otherwise i^ainiDg. redress from* this 
cmel^ w^ton, and unnecessiury torture, wrote a Letter jto Sir 
Charles Bampfylde, the Sheriff, a Copy of which was thereunto 
annexed, requesting the Sheriffs permission to see his Family, 
in whose custody Deponent conceives he legally is, but the 
Sheriff in his answer, a Copy of which is thereunto annexed, 
bas refused to Interfere with the custody of. Deponent, in 
Tiolation of the Statutes 11 and 12 Wm. III. cap. 10 and 14 ; 
Edw. III. cap. 10, notwithstanding which Statutes, no Sheriff 
or Undersheriff, has erer been to the said Gaol, since Deponent 
bas been imprisoned thereia* 

"Thst Deponent is inlbrmed, and verily believes, thai 
neiHwr the Sbiniff, nor his Deputy tiie Under-Sheriff, had any 
thing to do with tlie making or sanctioning the said Order of 
Sessions, made at Taunton, as neither the Sheriff or Under- 
Sheriff was present upon that occasion. But Deponent is 
informed, and verily believes, that a person by the name of 
Ednnmd Broderip, of Wells, an Agent of the above named 
Franeis Drake, Esq. did interfere and prejudice Deponent at 
the said Sessions. 

** That said Edmund Broderip, has interfered with the 
Cildtody of Deponent; and that he has had personal interriews 
with the Keeper of the said Gaol; and that he has written to 
the said Gaoler, directing him to treat Deponent in the most 
cruel manner, and for which cruelties inlHcted upon D^Mment, 
the said Keeper has produced the Lietter of the said Edmnnd 
Broderip as his justification to the Visiting Magistrates, Aaron 
Moody, Esq.* and the Rev. Dr. Colston, although tlie said 
Edmund Broderip is neither Under-Sheriff, nor a Magistrate* 



* The fact 18, that not clearly understanding the Order myself, I 
applied to Mr, Broderip lor his opinion on it He gavfr me a writt«a 



^ 



AnsvDtx. 81 

' ** That this iinddious distlnctioii of excltiding.Females from 
^silang him, a distinction which was never before made for 
any oth«* Prisoner in the said Gaoli and as Deponent believea 
in no otlier Gaol^ appears to be an Ulegal punishment, inflicted 
upon Deponent, and a new sentence imposed by the aforesaid 
Magistrates, ten times more severe than tMs Court intended^ 
or the law mH admit; and by this conduct of the Magistrates 
and iht sud Edmund Broderip, who appears to have g^ned an 
influence over the Keeper of the said Gaol, in consequence of 
his being alternately the Under-SheriiFof this County, with his 
partners, in violation of the Statutes 42d Edw. III. c. 9, eon* 
firmed by 23d Henry VI. c. 7 and 8, and by Henry T. e« 4, 
Deponent hath been and is by such conduct, made to su£fer more 
pumshment in this Gaol in one month than his co-defendants 
suffer in one year in lincoln Gaol, where no such cruel and 
unnecessary hardships and mal-treatment, has, as Deponent is 
informed and verily believes, been adopted or permitted. 

** That in consequence of these cruel acts, and some other 
suspicious circumstances, and especially the recent removal of 
two bolts, the interior fastenings of the Cell or Ward of 
Deponent, whereby he is exposed to attack in the night time, 
he is really and truly apprehensive of serious bodily harm. 

** Deponent therefore prays, that he may be brought before 
this Honourable Court by a Writ of Habeas Corpus, to shew 
cause, why he should not be removed out of the custody of the 
said Francis Drake, Esq. and the said Edmund Broderip; or 
to obtain an Order of the Court to relieve him from any otiier 
punishment than tiiat awarded by the Court, namely, safe 



opinum, wbich I placed in the hands of Mr. Moody.— -Jlfr. Mood^ placed 
it m the hamdB 9fHt»!ry Hml! I shall not comment upon the. motive 
that thus induced Mr. Moody to violate the confidence, to a Prmtur^ 
that as a Visithig Magistrate I was bound to repose in hin. 



ATOBUDn. 



eortody $ and purdealarly, that he th* D^ouiiit may be al- 
lowed to have his Family and Female Friends to mit him at 
reasonable hours, the same as his Male Friends, so long as 
they conduct Uiemselres wHk propriety, yiolate none of the 
Roles of the Cbud, and cause no inconyenienca to the Officers 
thertof.** 



APVENDIX. SS 

(K.) 

Copy of Protest delivered by me to the Magistrates, 
touching their Reporting upon the Charges preferred against 
me, without receiving the attested Copy of the Evidence pro- 
duced by me before the Commissioners under the Gteat Seal, 
or waiting the Report of the said Commissioners : 

" Ikheiter Gaoh Juljf 27* 1821. 
" Gentlbmbn, 

^^ I most respectfully, but not without confidence, beg leave 
to offer my humble Protest against any decision hostile to my 
interest or character, founded on the investigation before the 
Committee of Magistrates, without taking into consideration 
the Evidence tendered by me in my defence.^ I am aware of 



* Although I did not intend to mention in this work any part of the 
Evidence taken before either the Committee of Magistrates or the 
CommUsioners, yet I hope I may be excused if I briefly note by way 
of sample that of Mr. John Robertson, one of the Surgeons Extiraor- 
dinary to Henry Hunt, Esquire. 

Before the Committee he swears, ** I attended a person of the name 
of Davis, a debtor. I was called to hiih about ten o'clock in the 
morning, when I came I found him in a confirmed apoplexy. VHien. 
I came there, I understood he had been ill some hours, the Consta- 
ble of the Ward and others told me. In all cases of apoplexy ten mi- 
nutes are of the greatest importance, or even one minute. If I had 
been called in on the spur of the moment, there was every probability, 
at least it was possible, success would have attended my exertions to 
tave him!!" Before the Commissioners he swears, *' I recollect at- 
tending Davis, a debtor, I was called to him between two and 
THREK o'clock in the morning, I found him in a state of apoplexy, 
scarcely any signs of life were apparent in him !!" 

F 



34 APPENDIX. 

the offer of the Committee to hear any witnesses I would i^Ii, 
hut that offer was made to a Person, who had almost, at that 
moment, finished a long, lahoiious, and expensive Defence to 
the same Charges hefore an authorized and solemn Tribunal, 
in the presence of and under the cross-examination of his 
Prosecutor; which Defence and the Investigation which led to 
it, has mainly consumed the little all which thirteen years 



Mr. John Wegtcott a very respectable man slept m the same room 
with Davis the night he was taken ill ; he was discharged while ^ 
investigation was going on. Being no longer under the in^uence ^ fear, 
{which Hunt asserted all in my custody to feel) he came voluntarily 
before die Commissioners and deposed as follows: "I have been a 
debtor in the gaol twelve months, and thirteen days, I am vovr dis- 
charged, I knew Davis, a debtor, very well; I slept in his room; h« 
went to bed in good health about half past eight; he was taken ill 
ABOUT TWO ; he never spoke afterwards. I alarmed the Constable and 
he called the Turnkey; soon after that dr. Robertson attended 
and provided medicines; he came again about seven and bled 1iud> 
and then again about ten." 

JThe language made use of by this medical attendant^ on his visit 
to a dying man, is too desperate and too foul to be repeated; and 
therefore it is that Hunt has omiUed Mr. Westcott's name altogether 
in the book published by him under the tiUe of <' The Gaol Evidence." 
This I declare to be a very moderate sample of the villainy used 
against me, but it may enable the reader, to form something hke an 
opinion of the treatment I have received; of the perjuries brought in- 
to force against me; and of the wise, liberal, and honourable conduct 
of the Committee in deciding and reporting upon the ex-parte state- 
ment of SUCH evidence, and that too, after tha Commissioners bad 
superseded their enquiry in hearing the same matter over agaiu, with 
^1 the additions that could be made out of it by the previous exami- 
Mtion;. and this too I am obliged to put up with until I am favoured 
^ith a Copy of the Commissioners' Report, the receipt of that Pocu- 
naent win afford me much pleasure, as it will give me the power of 
knowing the amount of my errors.] 



APPENDIX* 35 

sernces had hardly earned. I am sensible, that in a Conrt of 
Justice, such Eyidence could not be read, except by consent; 
but the inyesldgalion of the Magistrates being a gratuitous 
enquiry for their own satisfaction, they were not fettered 
(nor did they in their own proceedings so consider themselyes) 
by the strict rules of Courts of Law ; and the duty they un- 
dertook and the meritorious object of the Enquiry might, I 
humbly submit, be well discharged, by reccing testimony 
from sources and under restrictions satisfactory to their own 
consciences. The endence which I respectfully tendered to 
the Comndttee, was given under a sanction more binding and 
solemn than any that could be offered before them, and I intreat 
the Ck>mmittee to remember, that to compel me i^^ain to 
encounter the expence I had already with difficulty and dis* 
tress, incurred, was to impose on me an impossible duty, 
which my means denied me the power to discharge. Under 
these circumstances, I humbly memorialize the Magistrates to 
review their former decision and rejection of my Evidence, 
and not permit the non-consent of my Prosecutor to deprive 
them of the only practicable source of information within the 
power of the accused to g^ve ! I will only add, that this is 
the request and memorial of an old Officer of the Ma^strates, 
to be allowed to vindicate himself by the only means that a 
long and ruinous prosecution has left him, and that a decision 
to reject the Evidence tendered, operates as a judgment upon 
hearing one side on/y. I am persuaded, that the Magistrate^ 
will do me the justice to believe, that in this representation, I 
have no view or motiye, but a desire, that tlie truth may be 



36 APPENDIX. 

attdned; and I should sincerely deprecate my misfortuney if 
in anxiety to defend my character and mterests, I uunten* 
tionally incurred the displeasure of a single individual. 

'* I am, Gentlemen, 

" Your very obedient Serrant^ 
" W. BRIDLE.' 



»» 



BiDDB and Robiason, Pnaten^ Batli. 



ft/t^l-^ bow^Stbeet. /*il» 

A few mUmtas befiNra the eloBliig ol ilia oovrt on Sptofday 
•t«iiUtf an aldarly man of ffpod iddxaia, bat afidmtly ra* 
dotod to gntl ditiraia. aoAiaaiiliig onortttehaa, who gavii 
tbaaaiiiaof WiUUmSridU^ wasfdaaadat thabar before 
Mr. Twyibid, cbarMd with btaakingp wfaidowa la the Bama- 
oflke, ttiidar tba fouowmfir aircamataacea :^ 

Joaaph Laton^ a porter amplorad at iha Hoilia>ottoa« 
balDff aworst aaid, about faat o*cloak tba da£uidant entaiaa 
tba Eall» aaa havfa^ aat down* be waa aakacTbJa baaiiiaaar 
whao ha aaid be wanted to aee tbe ohial aeoratey (Sir Janea 
QiahanB) oa bnaiaaaa, xaapeettag wbioh be bad been re- 
ferred to bioA by Sbr Bobert Peel. After remaining a abort 
time lie waa allowed to proceed up ataira, and after tbalapae 
of a fiiw miautea be retomed, aaying be waa directed to put 
oa papinr ttie aubatance of the buaiaeaa be wiabed to trana- 
aet. Wltn^ accordingly fturniabad him with paper, and 
after be wrote a note be waa avfliBrad to take it up ataira 
and delifer it himself | but be waa not loag abaaat, and on 
bia retara be looked up at the &n-li^bt over the middle 
door, and deliberately broke three panea of glaaa with bia 
crutch. Tbe oircumatanoe naturally attracted tbe notice 
of aevml peraona, and whan the defeadaat waa called to aa i 
acooaat fur bia ooaduot, he appealed ym much excited and \ 
^aaid,'*Takemetopriaonifyonlike.'' Tba glaaa was valued 
at 6a.» and tbe property of her H^eaty • 

In answer to tbe ehuge, the defendant aaid ho bad com- 
mitted the offenoe lor the porpoaeof gettfaig proteetlon, ftr 
be waa redooed to a atate of deatitution, and had he not/ 
doae aoy it waa bia iateatioa to have brolcea a atraat lamp, f 
|i order that he mi^bt be takea lata cuBtody. 

lir.Twyibrd tolof him auch conduct could aot be pasaed 
^ver. aad had it appeared oa the evideaee that be iatended 
aay bodUy harm to any person, he should have Instantly 
eamd upon him to put in bail, but aueb not being the case, 
it remained for him to say wlio he waa« and why aa acted in 
auehaakannar* 

The defendant, apparently anxious to enter into a history 
of bis paat life, saia aome yeara back lie had been governor 
of Ilcaeeter gaol, at the time whea the aotorious Heary 
fiuat waa coraned there, and aa be did not think proper in 
tbe diaoharge of bia pubUo duty to comply with all hla de- 
tends, he contrived to trump up a chanra of miscoaduct 
agaiaat bim ia.tbe maaageoieat of the prisoa. The nutter 
c au sed great seaaatioa at the time, principally owing to 
eleetkmeeriag aqeabbles, and the several magistrates who 
were oppoeed to lUs interests bad the ease brought before 
the Court of Queen'a Benob^ wbaa a dedak>B was givea ia 
bis (defeadaafs) fttvour* Oa that oocaaioa Mr. Adaod, 
hia uade Sir ThoaiiM Aelaad, aad Sit Abraham Bltoa 
acted as hie frienda ; but the majority of the maeistratea, 
3vho were inflneaoed by party motfvea, dirtctea a anbee- 
quant inquiry to be inatituted, and aucceeded in having 
•aim diiohargad from bia aituatioa, which, as a aatural con- 
jeqnence, ended in his ruin, and be bad aioce exhausted all 
bis pieana in seeking redress. 

The defsndant here handed in letters from bis friends, 
appioviag of the steps h# bad taken at the time, and con- 
gratulating bim upon the decision come to by the court. 

Mr. Twyford expressed a hope, should be not call upon 
him to enter bail, that he would not anhi attempt to urge 
his claims, real or imaginary, in a simuar manner. 

The defendant said be had expended immense sums in 
bringing his case lagally before the proper authorities, and 
bis impraasion was that Sir James Qraham waa actuated by- 
Mr. Twy ford obaerved be could hear nothing reflecuag 
nponaperaonnot preaant, aad bia duty waa merely to 
aqludieate upon the case according to tbe evidence adduced. 

The deifaoaant declared he intended no harm to any per- 
aon, and he waa totally uaable to pay for the danuiga ha had 
^ae. 

Mr. T^nfatd thaa ordered him to pay the sum i>f 0e., aad 
ia de&ult DO seat kr six days to prisoa. i 

Tha.deftBd4Mt was ^ removed frop tba bar. : j